SC rejects plea seeking probe into alleged CLAT 2026 question paper leaks

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected a petition seeking an independent and time-bound investigation into the alleged leak of the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) 2026 question paper, noting that the exams have concluded and questioning the petitioner about the delay.

The bench, comprising Justices PS Narasimha and Alok Aradhe, said that the petition was filed on December 16, 10 days after the alleged leak, and that the bench would have appreciated it if it had been filed before the results were declared.

However, advocate Malavika Kapila, who appeared for the petitioner, contended that the petition was timely filed and said that they were not seeking directions to re-conduct the exam. But the bench declined to entertain the plea.

A group of law aspirants from the Scheduled Castes, Other Backward Classes, and economically weaker backgrounds filed the plea, claiming that videos, images, and other digital material were shared on WhatsApp, Telegram, and similar platforms. This showed that the question paper and answer key were being illegally accessed and circulated before the exam. They urged the Supreme Court to order a fresh examination supervised by an independent committee if the allegations are found to be true.

CLAT 2026, organised by the Consortium of National Law Universities (NLUs), was conducted on December 7, 2025, between 2 and 4 pm, across 156 test centres in 25 states and four union territories, with over 92,000 students applying for around 5,000 seats. It is intended for admission to undergraduate and postgraduate law programs at 25 National Law Universities (NLUs). Additionally, several universities accept these scores for admission.

The plea argued that thousands of genuine candidates have been unfairly disadvantaged, with social media users circulating the images and videos of the question paper and answer key just hours before the test.

It also noted that many of the circulated materials bore time stamps from the night before the exam, around 10.15 pm on December 6. This suggests that the paper was leaked almost 15 hours before the test. Some screenshots also contained messages offering access to the paper in exchange for payment.

These posts appeared genuine because the Telegram messages lacked the “edited” label, a standard marker indicating later modification, the petition argued. This highlights that the leak occurred before the examination.

They claimed that the leak has irreparably compromised the integrity of the exam and undermined the level playing field necessary for any public examination. Additionally, it argued that, with counselling and seat allotment scheduled to begin on January 7, accepting the existing results would cause irreversible harm to deserving candidates. 

The petition also highlighted that although the Consortium subsequently set up a grievance redressal portal headed by former Supreme Court Justice MR Shah, it has not released any inquiry report or clarification. Candidates who raised concerns through the portal reportedly received no response.

The petitioners stated that this silence has increased public doubt and eroded trust in the fairness of the process; hence, they sought the appointment of an independent committee or agency to verify the authenticity of the leaked materials, determine how the breach occurred, and ensure accountability.

(With BarandBench inputs.)