On November 25, the Supreme Court granted permission for a 100 percent blind law student to use the assistance of a scribe, as designated by the Consortium of National Law Universities, to take the Common Law Entrance Test (CLAT) Postgraduate exam for the 2024-25 session, scheduled for December 1.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan heard a writ petition filed by three petitioners seeking necessary accommodations in legal examinations, including the All India Bar Examination (AIBE) and CLAT.

Petitioner No. 1 is a law graduate from NALSAR University of Law with 90 percent low vision disability. They requested accommodation from the Bar Council of India (Respondent No. 2) to use a computer during the AIBE-XIX examination.

Petitioner No. 2 is a 100 percent blind law student at Government Law School, Mumbai, who requested that the CLAT conducting body permit the use of a computer and clarify the eligibility criteria for scribes for students with visual disabilities. Petitioner No. 3 is a 100 percent blind law graduate from Auro University, Surat, who has also sought access to soft copies of Bare Acts and permission to use a computer for the AIBE-XIX exam.

On November 25, the Court heard the plea of Petitioner No. 2. The Counsel for Respondent No. 3 (Consortium of National Law Universities) initially submitted that for Petitioner No. 2, a scribe cannot be from fields such as Law and Humanities, as certain subjects like contracts are common across disciplines, creating a potential conflict of interest.

In response, the bench directed that Respondent No. 3 allow Petitioner No. 2 to avail the assistance of a scribe as an interim relief, with the condition that the scribe must be an undergraduate and not from a law or humanities academic background. This decision follows an earlier update on November 22, when Respondent No. 3 informed the Court that the deadline for selecting a scribe would be extended to November 25, 5 pm, for Petitioner No. 2.

According to the petition, the Respondents have failed to comply with the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, and other relevant government guidelines, which stipulate that persons with disabilities should be given the option to choose their mode of examination. This includes the use of computers, large print, or Braille.

The petitioners also highlight the lack of clear guidelines regarding the eligibility of scribes, the accessibility of examination centers, and the failure to sensitize invigilators to the specific needs of persons with disabilities.

Advocate Rahul Bajaj, representing the petitioners, raised the issue of the lack of access to computers and soft copies of Bare Acts for the AIBE-XIX exam, which is scheduled for December 22. He requested a short date to address this matter. The Court has scheduled a hearing on the issue of AIBE for December 5.

Case Details: YASH DODANI AND ORS. v UNION OF INDIA AND ORS.., W.P.(C) No. 785/2024

Appearances: Advocate Rahul Bajaj, AOR Sanchita Ain, Taha Bin Tasneem, and Habib.