When it comes to pursuing LLM, NLUs are the top choice of every LLM aspirant aspiring for a one year LLM in India. Also if a candidate wants to work in legal domain with some of the top public sector undertakings such as Power Grid Corporation of India Limited, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), National Thermal Power Corporation Limited (NTPC), Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL), Oil India Limited (OIL). etc. then one has to appear and score very good marks and secure a double-digit rank in CLAT PG examination as there is a stiff competition.
As the number of candidates appearing for the CLAT PG examination is increasing every year and with a view to cater to the need of the dynamic and developing legal system and to test the conceptual soundness of candidates, the CLAT consortium, which is responsible for conducting CLAT PG examination had introduced some fundamental changes in the year 2020 and thereafter the pattern and level of questions asked in the CLAT PG examination has changed as now questions are asked in a way where extracts from primary legal materials such as important court decisions in various fields of law, statutes or regulations are provided followed by questions based on the concept, latest developments pertaining to the extract provided along with awareness of the issues discussed in the extract, as well as of legal issues and facts related to and arising out of the extract.
Therefore, to score good marks and secure top rank, one needs to be very well equipped himself with the changing demand of the examination and one has to necessarily keep himself updated about the current legal topics along with good command over concepts of law school subjects which forms part of syllabus of CLAT PG examination. This makes it necessary for the candidate to follow some good legal websites regularly and read judgements and news related to the latest developments in the country. To reduce the burden of students to some extent, this article would be touching upon some books which a CLAT PG candidate must read so as to increase his chances of clearing CLAT PG examination with flying colours.
A question can come to your mind as to why one should refer to books for exam preparation when there are ample online resources available in this digital era. Books are preferred as
- They will contain an abundance of practice material
- Are dependable, in that they contain few to no errors, and cover the entire syllabus
- May also come with illustrations to make learning easier
- Contain examples for easy learning and comprehension.
Although there are hundreds of books available in the market for CLAT 2022 preparation, only the most appropriate and right books will help the candidate in CLAT 2022 preparation. With the best books for CLAT preparation 2022, the candidate can concentrate specifically on exam-topic-related topics to avoid going into irrelevant subject matters. There are hundreds of books authored for CLAT preparation, but only a few books are popular among the students. Some of them are even recommended by the toppers and experts as they cover the entire syllabus in a very efficient manner and are easy to understand.
At the postgraduate level, the exam syllabus is taken from the mandatory subjects of the undergraduate law program and include topics such as Constitutional Law, Jurisprudence, Administrative Law, Law of Contract, Torts, Family Law, Criminal Law, Property Law, Company Law, Public International Law, Tax Law, Environmental Law, and Labor & Industrial Law etc.
Students should rely on the books for their preparation as the entire syllabus can be covered from the legal subjects of graduation level.
Important books and reference material
Important books and reference material for CLAT LLM which a candidate must refer to is as follows-
Bare acts so that the candidate is able to answer index based and direct questions based on sections, articles and illustrations.
Books
- Jurisprudence and Legal Theory by Dr.V. D. Mahajan or A,K. Jain (Dukki) for Jurisprudence;
- V.N. Shukla’s Constitution of India or A.K. Jain (Dukki) Part – I & II for Constitution;
- PSA Pillai or Ratanlal & Dhirajlal for IPC;Poonam Pradhan on Family and Property Law;
- Avtar Singh or R.K. Bangia for Contract;
- R.K. Bangia or R&D for Torts;
- P Massey on Administrative Law;
- A.K. Jain for Public International Law;
- For Laws like Arbitration, IBC, Labour, Tax, IPR, Environment etc. refer to bare acts and keep yourself updated with latest developments and leading case laws.
For Practicing MCQs some books which can be referred are –
- Universal’s Book on Past year Papers;
- AK Jain MCQs for CLAT PG;
- Past years papers, especially of the year 2020 and 2021.
Please keep this in mind that the candidate is not supposed to go through the whole book cover to cover, the candidate shall refer only to those topics from which questions are repeatedly asked from a particular subject, for example candidate shall refer to a book to study the topic ‘Fundamental rights’ as questions are repeatedly asked from this topic.
Apart from the above mentioned list of reference material and books, also follow some good legal websites such as Your Legal Career Coach, Livelaw regularly so as to keep yourself updated with latest landmark judgements and news related to the laws that can be asked in the exam.
Latest Update –
The exam dates for CLAT PG 2022 and CLAT PG 2023 have been announced. CLAT PG 2022 will be held on May 8, 2022, and CLAT PG 2023 will be held on December 18, 2022.
YLCC would like to thank Manan Agrawal for his valuable insights in this article.
