New Delhi, Jan 7 (IANS) The Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed a plea seeking a court-monitored, independent, and time-bound investigation into the alleged leak of the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) 2026 question paper and answer key ahead of the examination held on December 7. Declining to entertain the writ petition, a Bench of Justices P.S. Narasimha and Alok Aradhe observed that the examination process had already concluded and the petition was filed belatedly. 

Questioning the need to examine the issue at such a late stage -- after the declaration of results and the completion of crucial stages of the admission process, the Justice Narasimha-led Bench observed that the examination had already taken place and that "everything was over".  It flagged the delay in approaching the apex court, noting that although the petitioners alleged the paper leak occurred on December 6, they filed the writ petition only on December 16. 

"You knew on December 6 that the paper was leaked. Why did you wait until December 16 to file?" the Justice Narasimha-led Bench remarked, adding that the Supreme Court would have "appreciated" the issue being brought before it prior to the declaration of results. The plea, filed through advocate Malvika Kapila, had sought a probe under the supervision of the top court into the alleged circulation of videos, screenshots and other digital material on WhatsApp, Telegram and other social media platforms, which "prima facie demonstrated that the CLAT 2026 question paper and answer key were illegally accessed, leaked and disseminated prior to the examination conducted on December 7, 2025"”. 

According to the petition, images bearing date and time stamps of around 10.15 p.m. on December 6 -- nearly 15 hours before the examination -- began circulating online. These allegedly included admissions by individuals claiming to have accessed the paper in advance, along with messages from a person offering the question paper in exchange for payment. "While the Telegram application provides a functionality for media editing which typically triggers an automatic ‘edited’ label, no such indicia of subsequent modification is present on these images, which prima facie validates their authenticity and corroborates the alleged timeline of the organised leak," the plea claimed. 

The petitioners, who described themselves as bona fide candidates belonging to Scheduled Caste, OBC and economically weaker section categories, contended that a "level playing field is the sine qua non of any public competitive examination" and alleged that the magnitude and speed of circulation of such material had "irreparably compromised" the sanctity of CLAT 2026, thereby prejudicing genuine and meritorious candidates. 

The plea further alleged inaction on the part of the exam conducting body, stating that despite the operationalisation of a grievance redressal mechanism chaired by a retired Supreme Court judge on December 17, no reasoned order, inquiry report, or clarification addressing the allegations of paper leak had been communicated to candidates. Claiming that examinations of national importance constitute a public function, the petition contended that proceeding with counselling and seat allotment on the basis of a “prima facie compromised examination” would lead to irreversible consequences, including permanent displacement of meritorious candidates. 

According to the petition, over 92,000 candidates applied for CLAT 2026 for approximately 3,500 undergraduate and 1,500 postgraduate seats, with the examination being conducted in offline mode across 156 centres in 25 states and four Union Territories (UTs). CLAT is a national-level entrance examination for admission to undergraduate and postgraduate law programmes offered by 25 National Law Universities (NLUs) across the country and is conducted by the Consortium of National Law Universities.