IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS OF PREVIOUS CLAT PG EXAM PAPERS

(Share your inputs)

1. Kritika

CLAT PG 2020

The total number of passages given were 12 and each passage consisted of 10 Questions.
The passages were taken from landmarks and recent judgments and articles.
The weightage given to the subjects were as follows:

Constitution Law - 5 (Judgments and Article based)

Jurisprudence- 2 (Article based)
Criminal Law- 1 (Article based)
Labour Law- 1 (Article based)
Family Law (Muslim Law)- 1 (Judgment based)
International Law - 1 (Article based)
Administrative Law- 1 (Article based)

Analysis:
1. Due to the changed pattern the paper was relatively difficult.
2. It was lengthy.
3. Very different from the sample paper which was released by the CLAT
Consortium-The sample paper completely focused on the recent judgments.
4. Not all passages were related to recent judgments.
5. Landmark cases also played an important role.
6. The important (general) topics were in focus- Right to Privacy, Article 21,
Contempt of Court, Reservation, Doctrine of Legitimate Expectations,
Amendment, Judiciary etc.
7. All the questions were from the subjects mentioned in the notification by CLAT
Consortium except 2-3 questions. The passage related to jurisprudence also had
questions from CPC, which was not a part of the syllabus.
 8. Basic knowledge was also tested in few of the questions. Although there were very
few questions from the direct bare provisions.
9. Although the syllabus also mentioned Contracts, Torts, Taxation Law, Company
Law, Environment Law and Property Law, questions were not asked from these
areas

CLAT PG 2021

The total number of passages given were 20 and each passage consisted of 6 Questions.
The passages were taken from landmarks and recent judgments and articles.
The weightage given to the subjects were as follows:

Constitution Law - 6 (Judgments and Article based)

Jurisprudence- 1 (Article based)
Criminal Law- 5 (Judgments and Article based)
Family Law - 2 (Judgment and Article based)
International Law - 2 (Article based)
Environment Law- 1 (Article based)
Law of Contracts - 3 (Judgment and Article based)

Analysis:
1. The expectation was that like previous year paper, this clat PG Paper would also
carry 12 passages, but the first element of surprise was that the paper had 20
passages.
2. The length of excerpts were relatively very short when compared to the previous
year paper.
3. The questions were a mix and balance of fundamental knowledge of the subject
and contemporary case laws unlike the previous year paper.
4. The difficulty level this year was also medium.
5. Some questions from the Code of Criminal Procedure were also asked which again
was not the part of the syllabus.
6. Around 25-26 questions were directly from the recent and landmark judgments
and this year's paper also focused on the concept and legal acumen as some
instances of problem based questions could also be found.
7. Although the syllabus also mentioned Labour Law, Torts, Taxation Law,
Company Law, Administrative Law and Property Law, questions were not asked
from these areas

WHAT TO EXPECT IN 2022 (PERSONAL ANALYSIS)

There can never be any expectations from CLAT PG Paper, it always turns out to be one
of the most unexpected paper but based on the paper of 2020 and 2021, following are the
few things which can be expected:
 1. Recent Judgments from around 3-4 years are very important.(Both majority and
dissenting opinion).
2. Awareness and alertness about legal issues along with the knowledge of law.
3. One can easily expect questions from CPC, CrPC and Evidence.
4. The CLAT Consortium has increased the ambit of the paper and I think it is very
important to have a basic understanding of almost all the subjects taught in the
undergraduate course. A good legal understanding is exepected. It will be helpful
for the Problem based questions which can definitely be expected this year too.
5. Along with the recent case laws, the landmark case laws will also play an
important role.
6. Majority of questions can be expected from the important subjects like
Constitutional Law, Jurisprudence, Contract, International Law, Family Law and
Criminal Law.
7. Since last 2 years there have not been questions from certain areas which I feel
should not be ignored. (as mentioned in the syllabus)

2. Prachi

CLAT PG 2019: The paper was divided into two parts: PART A (MCQs) and PART B
(Subjective questions). Part A consisted of a total of 100 questions out of which 40 questions
were from Constitutional Law and 10 questions each were from Contract Law, Torts, IPC,
Jurisprudence, IPR and International Law (the pattern provided in the syllabus was followed). In-
depth knowledge of bare acts was required to solve most of the questions as they were based on
provisions, important concepts and there were application-based questions as well. The paper
focused on landmark judgments out of which only few were recent. Majority of the questions
were asked from Constitutional law from the following topics: Amendment provision,
Parliament, Judiciary, Fundamental Rights, Executive, Legal history which includes important
dates, Fundamental Duties and recent amendments. Under International law, year of adoption of
various international organizations and conventions such as the Rome Statute of the International
Criminal Court, CEDAW and UDHR, was asked. Part B had 5 subjective questions out of which
2 were to be attempted by the candidate. This part was for a total of 50 marks. The questions
were on topics of law and current affairs, and were general in nature. (Level of paper- Easy to
Moderate)
CLAT PG 2020: This paper had total 120 MCQs out of which 60 questions were from
Constitutional law ( also included a few Administrative law questions), 20 from Jurisprudence,
10 each from Labour law, Criminal law, Family law and International law. No questions were
asked from Contract Law, Torts, IPR, Property law, Tax law, Environment law and Company
law. The paper was designed in a passage based format and it had 12 passages with 10 questions
each. 6 passages were taken from judgments and 6 from various articles. This paper was filled
with questions from recent and controversial issues such as reservation, contempt of court, right
to privacy, J&K internet ban (right to access internet), doctrine of legitimate expectation, CJI,
triple talaq. The questions were not only based on these issues but also had questions related to
the fundamentals such as provisions and case laws. There were few application/interpretation
based questions as well. It had questions related to landmark case laws ranging from the year
2020-2017. The paper also had some questions where interlinking between subjects can be seen
such as the Jurisprudence section had questions which were interlinked with other laws like
CPC, Constitutional law and Contract law. (Level of paper- Moderate to Difficult)

CLAT PG 2021: This paper had total 120 MCQs wherein majority of the questions were asked
from Constitutional law, Criminal law, Contract law, Family law and International law. There
were few questions from Jurisprudence, Administrative law, Company law and Environmental
law, as well. However, no questions were asked from Torts, Property law, Tax law and Labour
law. This paper also had questions from recent controversial issues and case laws. There were
questions from provisions, enactment year of the Acts, amendments, and also had conceptual and
application based questions. Under Criminal law the majority of the questions were asked from
CrPC. As CLAT Consortium has expanded the scope of the syllabus and has switched from IPC
(till 2019) to Criminal law (2020 onwards), questions from subjects like CrPC and Law of
Evidence should be expected by the candidates. (Level- Easy to Moderate)

Analysis: From the above analysis of the past 3 years’ question papers it can be deduced that
highest weightage is given to Constitutional law and a good amount of questions are asked from
Family law, Criminal law, International law and Administrative law. Amongst other subjects like
Torts, Property law, Tax law, Labour law, Company law and Environmental law, it can be
observed that there is a possibility that questions may/may not be asked from them. Questions
are usually conceptual, Bare Act and application based, hence, extensive knowledge of the
important concepts as well as recent controversial issues is a must which includes related
provisions and case laws. The level of questions is usually Moderate.

3. Amartya

CLAT PG 2020 CLAT PG 2021

Number of questions 120 120

Pattern of the paper 12 reading comprehensions 20 reading comprehensions
with 10 questions per with 6 questions per
comprehension totaling 120 comprehension totaling 120
questions questions

Source of the passages Passages based on recent Passages based on recent

and/or landmark judgements: and/or landmark judgements:
-6 - 10

Passages based on Articles Passages based on Articles

from various sources: - 6 from various sources: - 10

Division of questions (on the Constitutional Law: - 30 Constitutional Law: - 36

basis of subjects)
Jurisprudence: - 20 Criminal Law: - 30

Administrative Law: -20 Public International Law: -

*the division mentioned here 12
doesn’t take into account the Contempt of Court Act: - 10
comprehension excerpts where Family Law: - 12
two subjects had been mixed Labor Law: - 10
while asking the questions, Law of Contract: - 12
instead it clubs these questions Family law: - 10
with the majority questions in the Jurisprudence: - 6
Criminal Law: - 10
said comprehension passage.
Company Law: - 6
International Law: - 10
Environment Law: - 6
Division of questions (on the Questions based directly on Questions based on case
basis of the types of questions) case law: - 31 laws: - 29 (24%)

Questions based on legal Questions based on legal

G.K.: - 63 G.K.: - 71

Questions based on problem Questions based on problem

solving and comprehension: - solving and comprehension: -
20
26

Remarks · The paper was difficult · Due to the increase in

as seen by the cut-off, this the number of paragraphs
could also relate to the there is greater variation in
introduction of a new format. the type of questions asked.

· The excerpts were very · This paper seemed

long and lesser questions
were asked directly from the
paragraph (except paragraph
9), instead the pre-existing
knowledge of the student was
tested more.
easier than the previous year
one as few more questions
had direct answers in the
paragraphs, as compared to
the previous year.
· Increase in the
questions pertaining to the
general knowledge of static
law, but also providing hints
in paragraphs so as to get a
better understanding of what
the answer could be.

4. Sushil

CLAT PG 2020
PATTERN: 12 Comprehensive Based Question Each Having 10 MCQ Based Question

LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY: Hard

SOURCE OF COMPREHENSIVE EXCERPTS: Recent case laws from the year 2017-2020;
Article from newspaper & Article from jurist

HIGHEST WEIGHTAGE SUBJECT: Constitution (nearly 35% of all question)

QUESTION ASKED FROM WHICH SUBJECT: Constitutional Law (4 Pure and 1 Mixed
with administrative), Administrative Law (1 that too mixed with Constitution), Labor Law (1),
Jurisprudence (2), Criminal Law (1), Family Law (1) & International Law (1)

IGNORED SUBJECT (as per syllabus): Contracts, Torts, Taxation Law, Company Law,
Environment Law & Property Law

QUESTION ASKING ABOUT SOME CASE OR RELATED TO A CASE LAW: 36

Question Out Of 120

IN DEPTH ANALYSIS:

1. Case law based excerpts & article based excerpts are equally divided as both having 6
questions each.

2. Excerpts based on constitutional law, family law & international law have nearly 50%
questions asked are related to some case laws or the excerpt case laws which is highest.

3. Excerpts based on administrative law, criminal law & jurisprudence have nearly 5-30%
questions asked are related to some case laws or the excerpt case laws which is lowest.

4. Out of 5 Constitutional excerpts, 4 are based on Fundamental Right.

5. 2 Excepts are having mixture of administrative law & constitutional law

6. Jurisprudence is the 2 highest weightage area where 2 excerpts are there with only one
nd

question based on case law of 20 (16 percentage of total question)

7. Labour law excerpt has no case law based question

8. Labour & Family law has most question that are more or less legal G.K. and not connected
to the excerpt

9. Excerpt based on Criminal law do talks about IPC but most question are based on
criminology and not section based

10. Very less question are section based direct question

Note: Original Pattern was 10 excerpt based question and 2 essay based question but changed in
march 2020 with 12 excerpt based question.
 CLAT PG 2021
PATTERN: 20 Comprehensive Based Question Each Having 6 MCQ Based Question

LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY: In between moderate and hard

SOURCE OF COMPREHENSIVE EXCERPTS: Recent case laws from the year 2021-2018;
Article from newspaper & Article from jurist

HIGHEST WEIGHTAGE SUBJECT: Constitution (30-40% weightage)

QUESTION ASKED FROM WHICH SUBJECT: Constitutional Law (6 Pure and 1 Mixed
with criminal law and one mixed with environmental law), Jurisprudence (1), Criminal Law (4
Pure and 1 Mixed with Constitutional law), Family Law (2), International Law (1), Contract Law
(2), Company Law (1) & Environmental Law (1 that too mixed with constitutional law)

IGNORED SUBJECT (as per syllabus): Administrative Law, Torts Law, Labour Law,
Taxation Law & Property Law

QUESTION ASKING ABOUT SOME CASE OR RELATED TO A CASE LAW: 39

Question Out Of 120

IN DEPTH ANALYSIS:

1. Excerpts are mostly based on some articles of which sources are not written.

2. Excerpts based on constitutional law, family law & company law have nearly 50% questions
asked are related to some case laws or the excerpt case laws which is highest.

3. Excerpts based on criminal law, contract law & environmental law have nearly 5-30%
questions asked are related to some case laws or the excerpt case laws which is lowest.

4. Out of 6 Constitutional excerpts, 5 are based on Fundamental Right.

5. 2 Excerpts are having mixture of criminal law-constitutional law; environmental law-

constitutional law

6. Criminal law is the 2 highest weightage area where 5 excerpts are asked which makes it
nd

nearly 25-27% of all question

7. Jurisprudence and international law excerpt has no case law based question

8. Excerpt based on Criminal law only talks about CrPC and bail has been the core of two
excerpt

9. Very less question are section based direct question

10. In one excerpt of contract law there is a question which is problem based of 5-6 lines which
is not seen in any other excerpt
MY VERDICT AFTER ANALYZING BOTH PAPERS:

1. Clat has been very unpredictable in both question papers. Some questions are very hard and
also what subject they will select and what subject they will not select is very different so we
can’t form much of an opinion except Constitution and that too only fundamental right area
where in both year 25-40% question has been asked. One more uncertainty event is 2021 paper
has nearly same weightage to criminal law

2. Excerpt size which was nearly 1 page in 2020 has shrunk to half page in 2021

3. Case law based question are the core with nearly 30-35% question in both years

4. Legal General Knowledge question can be seen in both papers

5. We can expect more problem based question in 2022

6. CLAT might increase the number of excerpt to 24 with 5 question each for better coverage
of each question

7. Tort, Taxation & property law has not been asked in both years so we can expect Tort law
questions this year because before 2020 Tort Law has been frequently asked.

5. Aditi

6. Vineet

Clat PG 2020

A lot of questions were based on the latest judgements especially consitutional law

Most of the questions of constitutional law were based on latest judgements of last 3 years.
Specially the one related to fundamental rights.
The level of questions are good and CLAT is trying to understand the background knowledge of
the students. Question are asked related to the paragraph but not directly from the same.

The questions are in the form of paragraph but they do not ask questions directly from
paragraph but mostly related to the topic or case refered in the paragraph. So student should
have back ground knowledge the topics

Clat PG 2021
The proportion of cases which focused on the latest constitutional judgements got reduced.

The paragraphs are also now shortened and many are not picked up from judgements but are
textual para. A lot of focus has also been on criminal law apart from just consti and juris

The jurisprudence and landmark judgements of important topics of consitutional, international

and criminal law should be known by the candidate to score good.

Although paragraphs are smaller now but reading speed need to be improved and elimination
method to be adopted.

Some amount of diversity of questions increased as compared to the previous year questions.

7. Unnati

CLAT PG 2020 PAPER ANALYSIS

 Total number of passages- 12
 Total number of questions from each passage- 10
 Judgment based passages (50 % weightage) - 6
 Article based passages (50 % weightage) - 6
 Subjects in syllabus but no questions asked- Torts Law, Law of contract, Company
Law, Tax Law, Environment Law, Property Law.
 Case laws from the year 2020- 4 excerpts
 Case laws from the year 2019- 1 excerpt
 Case laws from the year 2017- 1 excerpt

Weightage given to subjects, from which questions are asked

Subject Weightage Type of Passage

Constitutional Law 50 Questions 1 Article based + 4 Judgment based

Administrative 10 Questions 1 Judgment based
Law

Labour Law 10 Questions 1 Article based

Jurisprudence 20 Questions 2 Article based

Family Law 10 Questions 1 Judgment based

Criminal Law 10 Questions 1 Article based

International Law 10 Questions 1 Article based

CLAT PG 2021 PAPER ANALYSIS

 Total number of passages- 20
 Total number of questions from each passage- 6
 Judgment based passages ( 50% weightage) - 10
 Article based passages ( 50% weightage) - 10
 Subjects in syllabus but no questions asked- Administrative Law, Torts Law,
Company Law, Labour & Industrial Law, Tax Law, Property Law.
 Case laws from the year 2021- 3 excerpts
 Case laws from the year 2020- 2 excerpts
 Case laws from the year 2019- 1 excerpt
 Case laws from the year 2018- 4 excerpts

Weightage given to subjects, from which questions are asked

Subject Weightage Type of Passage

Constitutional Law 36 Questions 4 Judgment based + 2 Article based

Jurisprudence 6 Questions 1 Article based

Environmental Law 6 Questions 1 Article based

Criminal Law 30 Questions 3 Judgment based + 2 Article based

Family Law 12 Questions 1 Judgment based + 1 Article based

Law of Contracts 18 Questions 2 Judgment based + 1 Article based

International Law 12 Questions 2 Article based

COMBINED ANALYSIS OF LAST TWO YEARS CLAT PG PAPERS

 Past 3 years judgments are important

 Major questions revolves around contemporary issues
 Bench important when there are concurring or dissenting
opinions of judges
 Questions based on- Basics of the subject, provisions, background
of the judgment, referred or overruled cases
 Questions definitely asked in both years from subjects-
Constitutional Law, Jurisprudence, Criminal Law, Family Law,
International Law
 Less questions asked from subjects- Administrative Law, Labour
Law, Environmental Law