SC seeks solution to redress complaints of law course aspirants
New Delhi, May 24: The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the National University of Advanced Legal Studies (NUALS) to come up with a solution to redress the complaints of candidates who appeared in the Common Law Admission Test 2018 (CLAT) and directed High Courts not to proceed with similar cases pending before them.
A bench of Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Justice Navin Sinha said there has to be a mechanism or redressal forum to look into the 251 complaints filed by the candidates.
"If such a dispute arises, is there a mechanism wherein these cases can be looked into and addressed so that candidates can be satisfied?" the court asked Kochi-based NUALS and directed it to come up with a wholesome solution by Friday.
"There should be some forum where the factual aspects can be looked into. Case-to-case questions will have to be looked into. They (NUALS) can appoint some authority to look into the case-to-case aspects and that will ease a lot of problems," the court added.
The court was hearing pleas filed by six CLAT candidates who sought direction to quash the CLAT 2018 conducted by NUALS on May 13 with the assistance of private firm Sify Technologies Ltd and to hold it afresh.
The petitioners had prayed for a stay on the publication of final result-cum-merit list till the disposal of their petitions.
They had moved the apex court on Wednesday and pleaded that examinees faced many technical problems during the online test, besides poor infrastructure at examination centres and lack of proper guidance from the staff.
The petitioners submitted that candidates across states faced serious problems at almost 200 online examination centres and said that the prerequisites of proper electronic and online infrastructure were not made available in the conduct of the exam.
The manner in which the examination was held had jeopardised the future of thousands of students who took the examination, they pleaded.
"For instance, at an examination centre at Hisar in Haryana, some students were seen attempting the examination till 7 p.m. whereas the exam was expected to conclude by 5 p.m. In essence, it is submitted that the petitioners and thousands of other similarly placed students were compelled to take the examination under grossly unfair conditions, seriously jeopardizing their result," the petitioner submitted.
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Strict security measures in place in Mumbai for Messi's events at 2 venues Dec 14, say police
Mumbai (PTI): In view of Argentine superstar footballer Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai on Sunday, the city police are implementing stringent security measures, like not allowing water bottles, metals, coins inside the stadiums and setting up watchtowers to keep an eye on the crowd, officials said.
The police also said taking extra care to avoid any stampede-like situation and to prevent recurrence of the chaotic situation that unfolded in Kolkata during Messi's visit on Saturday as thousands of fans protested inside the Salt Lake stadium here after failing to catch a clear glimpse of the football icon despite paying hefty sums for tickets.
Messi is expected to be present at the Cricket Club of India (Brabourne Stadium) in Mumbai on Sunday for a Padel GOAT Cup event followed by attending a celebrity football match. He is expected to proceed to the Wankhede Stadium for the GOAT India Tour main event around 5 pm.
"In view of Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai, the police are geared up and have put in place a high level of security arrangements in and around the stadiums located in south Mumbai. Considering the chaos that prevailed in Kolkata and the security breach, we have deployed World Cup-level security arrangements at Brabourne and Wankhede stadiums," an official said.
Expecting heavy crowd near the stadiums during Messi's visit, the city police force has deployed more than 2,000 of its personnel near and around both the venues, he said.
As the Mumbai police have the experience of security 'bandobast' during the victory parade of ICC World Cup-winning Indian team and World Cup final match at the Wankhede Stadium, in which over one lakh cricket fans had gathered, we are prepared to handle a large crowd of fans, he said.
"We are trying to avoid the errors that occurred in the past," the official said.
There is no place to sneak inside the stadiums in Mumbai like the Kolkata stadium, according to him.
The police are also asking the organisers to provide all the required facilities to the fans inside the stadium, so that there will be no chaos, he said, adding the spectators have purchased tickets in the range of Rs 5,000 to 25,000. After paying so much of amount, any spectator expects proper services, while enjoying the event, he said.
The police are expecting 33,000 spectators at the Wankhede Stadium and over 4,000 at Brabourne Stadium. Besides this, more than 30,000 people are expected outside and around the stadiums just to have a glimpse of the football sensation, he said.
The organisers responsible for Messi's India visit recently came to Mumbai to discuss security arrangements. During the meeting, the Mumbai police asked them not to take the event lightly, according to the official.
After those requirements were fulfilled, the final security deployment was chalked out, he said.
Police has the standard procedure of the security arrangements inside the Wankhede Stadium, where people are barred from taking water bottles, metals objects, coins. Police are setting up watch towers near the stadiums and there will be traffic diversions, so that there is maximum space available to stand, according to the official.
Police are also appealing to the spectators to use public transport service for commuting and avoid personal vehicles to reach south Mumbai.
To avoid any stampede-like situation, police are also taking precautionary measures and will stop the fans some distance ahead of the stadium and public announcement systems will be used to guide the crowd. Barricades will be placed at various places to manage the crowd.
In case the crowd swells up beyond expectation, the police will divert people to other grounds and preparations in this regard underway, he said.
Additional police force has been deployed in south Mumbai to tackle any kind of situation, he said.
