The Common Law Admission Test (CLAT), which published a revised answer key making 9 corrections yesterday after at least 13 potential errors were identified in its original key, has managed to correct a question that had two correct answers, by removing the previous correct option from the list.

For logical reasoning question with code 4611392876, candidates are supposed to choose the ‘most appropriate option’ in:

Pointing to a girl in the photograph, Ram said, ‘Her mother`s brother is the only son of my mother’s father’. How is the girl`s mother related to Ram?

Ans

1. Sister

2. Aunt

3. Mother

4. Grandmother

The original answer key had selected ‘aunt’ as the correct answer, which makes sense and is logical (if you can’t be bothered to figure it out, Ram’s mother and the girl’s mother would be sisters).

However, it would also have been possible to argue for ‘mother’ to be the correct answer. That would suppose that Ram and the girl are siblings and share the same mother (though it would be strange why Ram would speak in such circuitous language about his own sister and mother, other than to be obtuse).

Nevertheless, the CLAT in its new answer key has now decided that ‘aunt’ is the wrong answer, and the only correct answer should be ‘mother’.

Since ‘aunt’ is obviously at least as correct an answer as ‘mother’, the CLAT should really have awarded full points for either answer.