Understanding the CLAT Counselling Guidelines

Option 1 – He pays the counselling fee of Rs. 50000/- and chooses the ‘Lock’ option. In this situation, even if there is a vacancy in HNLU Raipur or any of the NLUs from his preference 1 to 7, and based on rank, he could have got an upgrade in the second list, he would have to continue in Kochi, because he has locked the selection.

Option 2 – He pays the counselling fee of Rs. 50000/- and selects the ‘Upgrade’ option. Now, once the second list is being prepared, in case there is a vacancy in any of the NLUs from preference 1 to 7, if he is eligible for any of them, he will be allotted that seat.

Now assume that in the second list, he is allotted Gandhi nagar. Since Pavan is from Hyderabad, he prefers south India and does not like to go to Gandhi nagar. He will lose his seat in Kochi and cannot claim the Kochi seat because he has opted for Upgrade. Even if he wants Raipur, it is not possible now, as he allotted his higher preference i.e, Gandhi nagar. The fee paid earlier will be carried over to the newly allotted NLU. So the student need to only exercise the option of ‘Lock’ to confirm seat in Gandhinagar or continue with ‘Upgrade’ mode.

Option 3 – Pavan does not like to study in Kochi and has not paid the counselling fee of Rs. 50000/- Now assume that in the second list, there is a vacancy in HNLU Raipur, based on his rank. In this situation, since he has not paid the fee of Rs. 50000/-, he will not be considered for the second list at all. In the situation that he does not like to study in Kochi, he should pay the counselling fee of Rs. 50000/- and continue in the counselling process. He can exit the counselling process at any stage before the given deadline and he will lose only Rs. 10,000/- as he is refunded with the remaining amount.

Similar process will continue after the second and third lists are published. By the deadline, in case you are not satisfied with the allotted NLU, you can withdraw from the admission process and the remaining seats will be allotted to the waitlisted candidates. The fourth and final list will be published.

Please note that the domicile/category certificates should be kept ready during this time. The list of documents required for verification need to be checked on the individual NLU website and accordingly they should be carried to the NLU along with the balance payment.

After the fourth list is published and allotted time for payment is over, the CLAT counselling process comes to an end. Any further vacancies will be intimated and handled by the respective NLUs. So please check the individual NLU websites regularly and apply directly. Out of the applied candidates against the vacant seats, the NLU will allot the seats.