"Couldn't this entire mess have been avoided if they had simply reviewed the paper properly?"

Well said OP. Surrounding this entire fiasco the original oversight that could've prevented all this has seemed to have been blurred. All the delays, all the uncertainty, all the court hearings, everything could've been avoided if they had just reviewed the question paper once. Especially the english question that OP mentioned, it seems almost comical as to why they would mark it as the right answer. It will all be well in the end, just focus on your boards and try not to thing too much of it (granted easier said than done) and everything will work itself out.

Here's to hoping the upcoming aspirants don't have to experience the same anymore 🥂

It is because in a bureaucracy, prior individual achievement matters far less than the group culture which has emerged over an extended period of time. In other words, it is the lowest common denominator that determines the general competence of the organisation. That is why Steve Jobs tried so hard to weed out B/C-players from his organisation to let the A-players do their best work.

Dear OP. Yours is neither a rant nor is it pointless. The criticism you make is well-founded. It is only that our institutions are so poorly governed and our “distinguished” jurists barely so that, time and again, the same errors keep happening in a system that is opaque to outsiders and resistant to reform. All that changes are victims. In India, it can be difficult to differentiate between malice aforethought and just plain, daily incompetence of the people in charge.

Well said ! The Consortium has displayed staggering incompetence and what is worse, a high degree of shamelessness. They had the opportunity to fix the errors after the provisional answer key was released - instead, they extracted more money from candidates and then abruptly released the "final" answer key and ranks at midnight before the AILET exam. And now they are dragging out the court process. Heads should roll for this, but will they? I wish the consortium members had been personally named in the lawsuits and that they would face some consequences. If a first-year associate was this incompetent, they would be fired instantly.

In a day's time, it will officially be 3 months since the first allotment list for the CLAT 2025 batch was due. As of now, only two out of the five appealed questions have been amended. The majority of hearings seem to be centered around clubbing cases or postponing dates. Back in January, I too stood alongside the judiciary, telling the people around me things like, "We aren't the only ones facing issues," and "We are a country of more than a billion people, the judiciary have a ton of cases to handle." But now, I can't bring myself to say that anymore. At this point, it's hard to see any clarity in the process. They’re supposed to release 5 allotment lists (if they even plan to do that) in 3 months, assuming the March 3rd hearing actually resolves anything. It's incredibly frustrating. They began the counselling process with an answer key that clearly contained multiple errors, they collected Rs. 20,000 from thousands of students, and left us in the dark with no answers.

Again it makes you think about what started it all, The question paper. The consortium took Rs. 1,000 from tens of thousands of students in grievance appeal money (mind you, with distinguished jurists involved), yet failed to correct a question that was undeniably wrong—no two ways about it. It took the court to step in and clarify, "Bhai yeh 11th waale ka answer D ho hi nahi sakta, C hai' (English, Question number 11, Set B [^]) "

Everyone said "CLAT ka padhle, achchi rank laakar boards dega na kuch pressure nahi lagega" and I did that. I DID study for CLAT the entire year, skipping all my pre-boards, I DID get an achchi rank and yet I wake up everyday in uncertainty and anxiety, unsure about what will I do in the future even after doing all that gadha-majhduri.

The only thing positive that I can think of this time is that, after all this is over, the consortium will hopefully get on the right track again and set a decent, controversy-free paper for the CLAT 2026 aspirants. But mera kya? Example banane ke liye why sacrifice my mental health and that of thousands of others? Couldn’t this entire mess have been avoided if they had simply reviewed the paper properly? And by "review," I mean just handing it over to any aspirant three months into their prep, and they could’ve easily told you which one is marked incorrectly and which isn't.

I realize this may come across as a pointless rant, one that many will likely scroll past, but it’s hard not to feel that this situation is utterly unfair. We’re all just expected to "sit tight" and "hope for the best," while the consortium continues to drag its feet. All props to Aditya (the person who filed the appeal in court regarding the questions) There's finally someone who's bringing to light the absolute shithousery consortium has made out of CLAT and I think even though the lists are getting delayed, we should all stand with him and encourage him because only then will the consortium be held accountable for this mess.

Apologies for the lengthy rant. I'm just tired of waiting around and studying for boards in anxiety everyday. Whoever is reading, thank you. I hope you have a great day.

*The dates announced by the consortium for the allotment lists.