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CLAT 4th Merit List 2026 Postponed: Check Latest Update
The fourth allotment round of CLAT UG counselling has been put on hold by the Consortium of National Law Universities until further notice. This is the second major disruption in the CLAT 2026 counselling cycle. Previously, the CLAT UG 2026 third merit list, which was supposed to be released on February 5, 2026, was postponed following an Allahabad High Court judgment.
This is due to the ongoing legal proceeding before the Hon'ble Division Bench of the Allahabad High Court. The decision is tied to a pending judgment in Special Appeal No. 135 of 2026. The verdict is now scheduled for May 8, 2026. This Special Appeal was filed by the Consortium against a prior order passed by a Single Judge of the same court. The Division Bench has finally heard the matter and reserved judgment on April 29, 2026. CLAT UG counselling 2026 is expected to resume once the verdict is delivered, and an updated CLAT counselling schedule will be uploaded on the official website of the Consortium.
Consortium of NLUs vs. Avneesh Gupta: Case Overview
Feature | Details for CLAT 2026 Special Appeal |
Case Type and Number | Special Appeal (SPLA) No. 135 of 2026 |
CNR Number | UPHC050764922026 |
Filing Date | February 4, 2026 |
First Hearing Date | February 11, 2026 |
Next Hearing Date | May 8, 2026 (For Delivery of Judgment) |
Current Stage | Judgment Reserved (on April 29, 2026) |
Appellant (Petitioner) | Consortium of National Law Universities, through its Convenor |
Respondent | Avneesh Gupta (Minor) through father/guardian Shri Atul Gupta |
Current Bench (Coram) | Justice Saumitra Dayal Singh and Justice Swarupama Chaturvedi |
Bench Type | Division Bench |
Primary Dispute | Appeal against the mandated revision of CLAT 2026 Merit List (arising from WRIC/45517/2025) |
Pending Applications | Stay Applications (IA/2, IA/5, IA/7) and Intervention Applications (IA/4, IA/6) |
The Question 9 Dispute Behind the CLAT 4th Merit List Postponement
This postponement of the CLAT merit list 2026 is not a sudden decision by the Consortium but rather part of a court case that has been ongoing for almost three months. This case began with an evaluation of one of the questions in the CLAT 2026 paper. This controversial question appeared as Question No. 91 in Booklet A and Question No. 9 in Booklet C, under the Logical Reasoning section.
An Expert Committee was appointed to investigate the question. After review, it suggested that both B and D options were correct. This recommendation was, however, overruled by the Oversight Committee of the Consortium, and the original answer was accepted without any administrative justification. The Single Judge of the Allahabad High Court called this step "arbitrary". The court directed the Consortium to mark both options as correct and to revise the entire CLAT UG merit list 2026.
Avneesh Gupta, a minor candidate, filed the initial writ petition WRIC/45517/2025 through his father. His arguments were accepted, and the Single Judge ruled in his favour. The Consortium then filed Special Appeal No. 135 of 2026 to the Division Bench on the grounds of procedural mistakes and jurisdictional concerns.
At the initial phase of the appeal, Justice Saumitra Dayal Singh and Justice Indrajeet Shukla heard the appeal. They granted a stay on the special appeal filed by the Consortium against the order of the Single Judge. The Consortium claimed that any change in the merit list at this stage would disturb the entire CLAT admission process and create chaos for thousands of students. That enabled the Consortium to publish the CLAT UG third merit list and continue with the CLAT 2026 counselling. However, the decision on the appeal itself, now reserved and due on May 8, 2026, will determine the course of further action in the CLAT 2026 admission process.
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Yes, you can elevate your law entrance journey with Careers360’s CLAT mock test PDF free download link given below:
https://law.careers360.com/articles/clat-mock-test
The CLAT 2027 application form will open in the first week of August 2026. While the exam will be held on the first or second Sunday of December 2026.
Hello Purvi,
You can access the CLAT Last 5 Year Question Papers with Detailed Solutions (2021-2026) through the link provided below:
https://law.careers360.com/download/sample-papers/clat-last-five-year-question-papers-answer-key
Hope this Helps!
Hi,
You can check out the list of colleges that offer 5-year LLB admissions without entrance exams here
Several top law colleges are accepting the CLAT score, other than the NLUs. These include:
- Siksha ‘O’ Anusadhan University, Bhubaneswar
- Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Science, Chennai
- Lovely Professional University
- Institute of Law, Nirma University
Candidates can check out the detailed list of non-NLUs accepting CLAT for admission in
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