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CLAT 2012 was a "C(L)ATastrophe"- so claimed many of those whose dreams lay shattered. Agreed, there were glitches and the CLAT Committee was to be blamed, but they weren't major enough to warrant the sordid outcry which followed and expectedly degenerated into a farce in no time at all. In this article, I look at where CLAT'12 had faltered, analyse the best CLAT papers we have had so far, and suggest how an ideal law school entrance examination paper should be.

Aditya Vardhan Sharma, CLAT 2012 All India Rank 33, participated in an exclusive Live Chat at GyanCentral on March 4, 2013 between IST 9 to 10 PM, to clear the doubts of eager aspirants regarding the CLAT exam. He is currently studying law in first year at The National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bangalore. Here are the excerpts from the chat.

Pattern of CLAT has changed often like the colour of chameleon over the very few years it had seen since its inception. While when it took place for the first time in 2008, it was welcomed and heralded as something that is similar to IIT-JEE, an exam solely for National Law Schools unlike the previous times when every NLS used to take separate exams. But then like a toddler, as it was or is, it is still facing difficulty in walking the path that was made for it, to be the path that had the glory of being the way to national law schools after clearing a national level standard exam.

He is a CLAT trainer. He teaches current affairs. He runs a start-up called Legal Edge. His upcoming book, a guide for CLAT is aimed at helping Law aspirants -beginners and pros prepare better for law entrance exams like CLAT. And no, it will not be a mere "guide" though it is called that. Self motivation he says is the key that keeps him going. Meet Harsh Gagrani, one of those rare people who takes the "Your advice for CLAT aspirants" question with utmost seriousness. Read on and you'll know how.

CLAT has always its admirers and critics. Since the past 3 years CLAT paper has drawn a lot of flak and controversy. The CLAT core committee will meet soon to take crucial decisions for CLAT 2013, Poorvi Shah, a second year student at WBNUJS, Kolkata speaks to CLAT mentor Rajneesh Singh to know his views on CLAT and ways the exam can be improved.

The Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) is aptly named. In my humble opinion, I think that 'Legal Aptitude' test would be at variance with the present format. While an integrated test has significantly reduced hardships for laws school aspirants (as compared to independently conducted tests by the top law schools), the changed format has left a significant scope for debate regarding its efficacy in evaluating, specifically, an aptitude for legal education.

The Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) is the stepping stone to the best National Law Universities in India- aiming to choose the best legally inclined and intellectual minds in the country. CLAT 2012 saw the participation of more than 26,000 students across the states and union territories (and also across countries keeping in mind the NRI candidates), competing for a few hundred seats- the success rate being a meager 0.053%. And now, with CLAT 2013 on its way, the competition promises to get bigger, better and interesting.

The CLAT Core Committee 2012 in its first meeting at NLU Jodhpur held during October 1-2, 2011 had dropped the idea of establishment of a CLAT Secretariat. Earlier, this issue was raised in the meeting of CLAT 2011 held on September 21, 2012; however, no decision was reached regarding this.

The problems surrounding this year's Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) 2012 seems to be never ending. After the CLAT committee released the question paper's answer key of CLAT 2012 on Friday, there were at least 12 errors spotted worth 12 marks, according to the examinees.

One of the petitioners of the first Common Law Admission Test (CLAT), 2012 petition, Shubham Sinha, has filed a Letters Patent Appeal against the order of the Single Judge of the Delhi High Court, dismissing in limine the challenge to the content of the CLAT 2012. The first writ against CLAT 2012 should not have been dismissed by the Delhi high court, said a division bench of the court today. Justices Rajiv Shakdher and Vipin Sanghi sought a response from the 2012 CLAT convenor NLU Jodhpur on the actions taken by the law school on the representations against the examination process made by candidates this year.