Students demand refund, NLSIU to return half the fees

Several candidates, who appeared for the National Law Aptitude Test (NLAT 2020) conducted the National Law School India University (NLSIU), Bengaluru, have demanded the refund of the fee paid for the registration of the test.

Launching a campaign on social media platforms soon after the Supreme Court's verdict quashing NLAT, the students have been asking the NLSIU to refund the fee. The university, later in the day, agreed to refund half of the fees.

The NLSIU had conducted NLAT 2020 on September 12 for admission into various undergraduate courses for the 2020-21 academic year by coming out of Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) citing uncertainty over the conduct of CLAT in wake of the Covid-19 pandemic across the country. Some parents, students, and former vice-chancellor Prof Venkata Rao had challenged the university's decision.

Further, the online test conducted by the NLSIU also met with a lot of technical glitches and many candidates could not take up the test. Considering the complaints, the university conducted a re-test, which also ended up with technical glitches. As many as 27,000 students had registered for NLAT.

Prafull Bharadwaj, an aspirant, tweeted, "There was a legitimate expectation of legality of this NLAT 2020 in the minds of aspirants. And hence, the aspirants paid. The act of NLSIU is not only illegal but contrary to their actions. It should refund the full amount paid by the aspirants."

Another student, Shreya Verma wrote, "Thank you for giving us anxiety and lots of tension from 3rd September to till now but at least NLSIU give our Rs 150 back."

According to students, the NLSIU had reportedly collected Rs 39,10,650 for conducting of NLAT 2020.

A statement released by NLSIU said, "The university shall admit students based on the results of the CLAT-2020 and not based on NLAT 2020. The university will implement the judgment and orders of the Supreme Court in letter and spirit."

On the refunding part, the NLSIU said, "We have begun working with our vendors to initiate refunds to all students. Students may expect refunds after a deduction of Rs 75 as application processing charges, to reach them in the next 9 to 14 working days."

The university further reacted that following the apex court's judgment, the university, in consultation with its governing bodies, will take necessary steps to welcome a new batch of students.