On January 7, 2026, the Supreme Court dismissed a petition seeking a court-monitored probe into the alleged leak of the CLAT 2026 question paper. A Bench headed by Justices P. S. Narasimha and Alok Aradhe said the exam was over and asked why the petition was filed only after the results were announced on December 16, 2025. Advocate Malvika Kapila, representing the petitioners, said the plea was timely and did not seek retaking the exam. The petitioners, law aspirants from disadvantaged backgrounds, claimed that screenshots and videos of the question paper circulated on social media, including Telegram, on the night of December 6 — about 15 hours before the exam on December 7. They argued the leak damaged the fairness of the exam and urged judicial action before the first seat allotment on January 7. The court noted the Consortium of National Law Universities (CNLUs) had received 92,344 applications for around 5,000 seats across 25 NLUs. The petition also mentioned that complaints made via the consortium’s grievance portal about the leak had gone unanswered, damaging public trust. Despite these concerns, the Supreme Court declined to intervene, stating that delay in approaching the court reduced the need for intervention. The CLAT 2026 exam was held offline across 156 centres in 25 states and 4 Union Territories. Results were declared online on December 16, 2025.