In a relief to candidates seeking to apply for the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) to gain admission in prestigious law institutes of the country, the Madhya Pradesh High Court today abolished the clause of upper age limit for appearing in the examination.
A division bench of the High Court, comprising Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice Alok Aradhe, in their order, said that when the Bar Council of India had abolished the criterion of upper age limit (for admission to law courses), then no university in the country has the right to fix the same for the entrance examination.
The bench gave its ruling responding to a petition filed by Chhindwara-based candidate Anuj Rai and others.
The petitioner said that 16 law universities in the country organise CLAT on a rotational basis and this year the Lucknow-based Ram Manohar Lohia National Law University has organised the entrance test.
The varsity has set an upper age limit of 20 years to appear for the entrance examination despite the fact that the Bar Council of India abolished the upper age criterion in 2013.
Therefore, the criterion set by the varsity on the issue is arbitrary and illegal, petitioner's advocates Anurag Shivhare and Manish Angira stated in the petition.
