Supreme Court Dismisses Plea Seeking Court-Monitored Probe Into Alleged CLAT 2026 Question Paper Leak

The Supreme Court today dismissed a plea seeking a court-monitored, time-bound probe into the alleged leak of the 2026 Common Law Admission Test question paper and answer key ahead of the examination held on December 7.

A bench of Justice PS Narasimha and Justice Alok Aradhe declined to entertain the petition, noting that the examination process had already concluded.

As per the plea, on December 6, about 15 hours before the exam, images carrying date and time stamps began circulating online. These images allegedly contained admissions from students who had been able to illegally obtain the paper and messages from a person offering the paper in exchange for payment.

Justice Narasimha observed that the exam had already taken place and everything was over, and questioned the need for examining the issue at that stage.

Justice Aradhe pointed out that the petitioners alleged the leak took place on December 6 but approached the Court only on December 16. “You knew on 6th December that the paper was leaked. Why did you wait till 16th December to file?”, he asked.

J Narasimha said, “Before declaration of result we would have appreciated.”

The petition had sought a court-monitored, time-bound investigation into the alleged leak of the CLAT 2026 question paper and answer key prior to the exam, with a prayer for re-examination if the allegations were found to be true.

Filed by a group of CLAT aspirants belonging to Scheduled Caste, Other Backward Class and economically weaker sections categories apprehending prejudice, the plea was triggered by videos, images and other material circulating on social media platforms.

According to the petitioners, these materials prima facie indicated that the question paper had been leaked before the examination.

The plea asserted that a level playing field is a sine qua non of any public competitive examination. It claimed that in the case of CLAT 2026, the scale of circulation of online material suggested that the sanctity of the exam had been irreparably compromised.

The petition highlighted that the Consortium of National Law Universities had set up a grievance redressal portal chaired by former Supreme Court judge Justice MR Shah, to address exam-related grievances. It alleged that although many students raised concerns about the purported leak through the portal, no enquiry report or clarification was issued.

The plea averred that where the sanctity of an examination is compromised due to leakage or irregularities, the entire process stands vitiated, as merit becomes a “casualty” and the guarantee of equal opportunity under Article 14 of the Constitution is defeated.

The petition was filed through Advocate-on-Record Mavika Kapila.

Case no. – Diary No.407/2026

Case Title – Lalit Pratap Singh v. Consortium of National Law Universities