Delhi HC quashes NHAI notification making CLAT-PG scores sole basis for lawyer recruitment

New Delhi [India], September 24 (ANI): The Delhi High Court on Wednesday struck down the National Highways Authority of India’s (NHAI) notification that made CLAT-PG scores the sole criterion for hiring legal professionals.

A division bench led by Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya, along with Justice Tushar Rao Gedela, pronounced its verdict, holding that the August 11 notification was arbitrary and beyond the intended purpose of CLAT-PG.

Recently, the Court clarified that an academic entrance test for postgraduate law admissions cannot be applied to govern professional employment in public institutions.

The ruling was made in a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Advocate Shannu Baghel in Shannu Baghel v. Union of India & Anr. The petitioner argued that CLAT-PG was designed exclusively for academic purposes, assessing research aptitude and legal knowledge for LL.M. admissions, not for evaluating professional competence in public employment.

It was also stated that by relying solely on CLAT-PG scores, NHAI had excluded a vast pool of qualified and experienced advocates, thereby violating the constitutional guarantees of equality and fairness under Articles 14 and 16.

While NHAI and the Union of India had defended the move as a transparent, uniform, and objective process, the bench found no rational nexus between CLAT-PG and the skills required of practising lawyers at NHAI.

The Court concluded that restricting recruitment to CLAT-PG qualifiers amounted to an unreasonable classification. (ANI)

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