Maharashtra Common Entrance Test for Law (LLB 3-Year and 5-Year)(MH CET Law)

About the exam

About MH CET Law

MH CET Law is the name students use for two different entrance tests run by the State Common Entrance Test Cell, Maharashtra. The MAH-LL.B. 3 Yrs CET is for graduates entering the three-year LL.B., and the MAH-LL.B. 5 Yrs CET is for candidates with Class 12 or a three-year engineering diploma entering the integrated course that leads to degrees such as BBA-LL.B., BLS-LL.B. and B.A.-LL.B., as the MAH-LL.B. 5 Yrs CET 2026 Information Brochure describes it. Each test has its own brochure, form, fee payment, exam date and admission portal, and the MAH-LL.B. 3 Yrs CET 2026 Information Brochure warns that a form filled for one course cannot be considered for the other.

The two papers share a length and a scoring rule but not a section mix, and only the five-year paper tests mathematics. The Cell's Commissioner then fills the seats course by course through a Centralised Admission Process (CAP), placing candidates on CET merit, category, candidature type and the colleges they list, the basis of admission set out in the LL.B. 3 Yrs CAP 2026-27 Information Brochure.

Both 2026 tests have been held. The CAP schedules the Cell issued on 21 August 2026 set Round III seat allotment for 18 September 2026 for the five-year course, per the LLB 5 Yrs CAP Full Schedule 2026, and for 19 September 2026 for the three-year course, per the LLB 3 Yrs CAP Full Schedule 2026, with an institute-level round after it and no admission allowed after 5 October 2026 and 7 October 2026 respectively.

At a glance

MH CET Law highlights

Calendar

Important dates

Both 2026 tests opened registration in January and closed it weeks later than first announced, after repeated extensions, so the dates below come from the last notice issued for each stage rather than from the brochures' original tables. The two CAP rows are dates as scheduled in the Cell's 21 August 2026 CAP schedules.

For the three-year test, the Cell's registration notice for the LL.B. 3 Yrs CET of 7 January 2026 gave 23 January 2026 as the last day. A first extension notice moved it to 13 February, a second extension notice to 28 February and the third extension notice to 3 March, and each of the three said no further extension would be granted.

The five-year form carried a 24 January 2026 deadline in the registration notice for the LL.B. 5 Yrs CET; by the LL.B. 5 Yrs third extension notice of 17 March 2026 it had reached 31 March. Both brochures call their schedules provisional and name the Cell's website as the only place a revised schedule is notified, as the LL.B. 5 Yrs CET brochure puts it.

Who can apply

Eligibility criteria

The two tests set different academic bars, and both let a candidate sit the CET before the qualifying result is out.

Three-Year LL.B. CET

A candidate must be an Indian national and a graduate in any faculty, with at least 45% aggregate in the degree for Open, All India (OMS), SEBC and EWS candidates, 42% for VJNT, SBC and OBC candidates of Maharashtra, and 40% for SC and ST candidates of Maharashtra, according to the LL.B. 3 Yrs CET brochure. Aggregate means the marks of every year or semester of the degree added together, whatever percentage the university prints. A graduate who also holds a two or three year postgraduate degree in the 12+3+2/3 pattern qualifies. The brochure accepts a first degree taken by distance or correspondence and shuts out only an Open University degree that runs contrary to the UGC Act and the rules of legal education. The brochure treats every graduate of a university outside Maharashtra as an Open candidate, whatever their caste.

Candidates still appearing for the qualifying degree examination, undergraduate or postgraduate, can sit the three-year CET, though their admission depends on uploading the provisional or degree certificate and every mark list with the CAP application form, per the LL.B. 3 Yrs CET brochure.

Five-Year LL.B. CET

A candidate must be an Indian citizen who has passed Class 12 (HSC) or an equivalent, with category floors of 45% for Open, SEBC, EWS and OMS candidates, 42% for VJNT, SBC and OBC candidates of Maharashtra and 40% for SC and ST candidates of Maharashtra, according to the LL.B. 5 Yrs CET brochure. The same brochure admits holders of a three-year engineering diploma in any faculty, provided they produce an equivalence certificate from the board that ran the diploma. It also sets sequence rules a school-leaver can trip over: there must be a gap of at least two years between passing Class 10 and Class 12, a Class 12 passed before Class 10 disqualifies, and Class 10 and 12 earned through open or distance mode without having completed standards 1 to 9 do not count. A student still waiting for the Class 12 result can register for the five-year CET, but the admission itself hangs on showing that result's certificate and every mark list.

Age Limit

Neither brochure sets an upper age limit for 2026-27. The three-year brochure ties that to a case pending in the Supreme Court and a Bombay High Court order, the five-year brochure says there is no limit "at present", and both make admission subject to the final outcome of the writ petitions. If a limit is made applicable, the LL.B. 3 Yrs CET brochure puts it at 30 years for Open and 35 years for SC and ST candidates of Maharashtra, and the LL.B. 5 Yrs CET brochure at 20 years for Open and EWS and 22 years for SC and ST candidates of Maharashtra, both as on 1 July 2026.

Candidature and Foreign Candidates

Seats are divided by candidature type as well as category, and both law brochures define Maharashtra State Types A to E through the candidate's own domicile or birth in Maharashtra, a parent's Maharashtra domicile, a parent's central or state government service, or residence in the disputed Maharashtra-Karnataka border area with Marathi as mother tongue. For the five-year course, the LL.B. 5 Yrs CET brochure adds that a candidate who passed Class 10 and 12 in Maharashtra but was neither born there nor holds its domicile is an All India candidate.

NRI, OCI, PIO, foreign national and Gulf-worker children do not take the CET at all. They register on the Foreign Candidate Registration portal, pay a non-refundable eligibility fee of USD 50 and then a one-time processing fee of USD 1,150, refundable only if the visa is rejected, per the LL.B. 5 Yrs CET brochure.

Step by step

Application process and fee

The CET form is filled only online at the Cell's site, and an APAAR ID was mandatory for registration, as the Cell's registration notices for the three-year CET and the five-year CET state. Candidates with a disability who need a scribe had to give details of two scribes at registration, per the LL.B. 5 Yrs CET brochure.

The LL.B. 3 Yrs CET brochure sets the sequence: register to get a provisional registration number and password, save the form in parts, upload a photograph of 20 KB to 50 KB and a signature of 10 KB to 20 KB, preview, final-submit and then pay. The brochure rejects a signature written in capital letters and allows no change after final submission, although in 2026 the Cell later opened a short correction window for name, date of birth, photograph, signature and gender.

The fee is the same for both tests, is paid online only with bank charges on top, and cannot be refunded or transferred.

The brochures ask candidates to keep the CET application form, fee receipt and hall ticket for admission, and the three-year brochure says a lost form can be supplied on payment but a lost hall ticket will not be reissued.

Before the exam

Admit card and exam day

The law CETs followed the same hall ticket sequence as every other 2026 CET under the Cell's notice on downloading CET 2026 hall tickets: an Exam City Intimation Slip naming the city first, then the final admit card in the candidate's login shortly before the exam.

At the venue a candidate needs the hall ticket with a recent photograph pasted on it, an original photo ID bearing the same name, original proof of any name change, and a ball point pen. The LL.B. 3 Yrs CET brochure lists PAN, passport, driving licence, voter card, Aadhaar or e-Aadhaar, a college ID and a Bar Council ID among accepted IDs, and rules out a ration card, a learner's licence, colour photocopies and soft copies. The invigilator signs the hall ticket, and the candidate takes it back for admission.

Late arrivals are turned away. The LL.B. 3 Yrs CET brochure says candidates may need to be at the venue for about 120 minutes including formalities, while the LL.B. 5 Yrs CET brochure gives about 180 minutes. A candidate using a scribe gets 20 minutes of compensatory time for every hour, and anyone booked for unfair means is debarred for 3 years.

Structure

Exam pattern

Both 2026 papers were set online, with 120 multiple-choice questions of four options each, one mark per question, no negative marking and 120 minutes, and the brochures set the questions in English and Marathi. The section weights are where the tests part ways.

The three-year paper leans on English and general knowledge, while the five-year paper leans on legal and logical reasoning. The 120-mark format dates from the 2025 cycle: the Cell's public notice of 28 January 2025 moved both tests to 120 marks "instead of 150 marks" and kept the duration at 120 minutes.

Timing is controlled by the exam server's clock. A candidate can move between questions freely, but an answer counts only once saved with "Save and Next" or "Mark for Review and Next", the paper cannot be submitted before the time runs out, and pressing keyboard keys can lock the exam, per the LL.B. 5 Yrs CET brochure. The 2026 three-year CET ran in 4 sessions and the five-year CET in 2, according to the Cell's objection redressal notices for the three-year and five-year tests.

What to study

Syllabus

Instead of a chapter list, each brochure explains what a section is meant to measure. Legal aptitude questions give a legal proposition and a set of facts, and candidates must apply the proposition even where it is not true in real life. General knowledge covers history, geography, general science, economics, civics and the current affairs of the past one year, and the LL.B. 5 Yrs CET brochure specifies ancient, medieval and modern history.

Logical and analytical reasoning tests analogies, completing arguments, drawing conclusions and deductive reasoning from rules about people, things or events. English covers vocabulary, idioms, one-word substitution, sentence improvement and rearrangement, error spotting and comprehension, and the LL.B. 3 Yrs CET brochure specifies at least two comprehension passages followed by five to ten questions.

The five-year paper's Mathematical Aptitude section is set at Class 10 level, covering profit and loss, speed and distance, time and work, algebra, averages and Venn diagrams, per the LL.B. 5 Yrs CET brochure. The Cell's 2025 marking scheme notice called the same section Basic Mathematics.

How to prepare

Preparation and books

The law CET brochures name no books. Both tell candidates to use standard reference books based on the syllabus and state that the Cell does not recommend any book because of a possible clash of interest, per the LL.B. 3 Yrs CET brochure.

The brochures promise a mock test link for practice and add that its sample questions are illustrative, not exhaustive, and that the real paper can be harder or include question types not shown. The LL.B. 5 Yrs CET brochure also advises candidates not to mark answers by random guessing, even though no marks are deducted. The Cell appeals to law colleges recognised by the Bar Council of India and affiliated to Maharashtra universities to guide candidates preparing for the CET.

Where it is held

Exam centres

Both tests are held only in Maharashtra, at selected cities designated as centres, and there is no centre outside the state, according to the LL.B. 5 Yrs CET brochure. A centre can have several venues. Candidates give a centre preference, but the Cell allocates the centre and venue, can move a candidate to another centre if too few or too many opt for one, and can add or cancel centres. The preference itself cannot be revisited, and the brochure rules out any request to move centre, venue, date or session.

After the exam

Answer key

In 2026 the answer key reached candidates through an objection tracker in their login, which displayed the question paper, the candidate's own responses and the correct answer key. Objections cost Rs 1,000 per question, paid online through the login, per the LL.B. 5 Yrs objection tracker notice, and objections sent by e-mail or any other route were not considered.

Each test's redressal notice tabulates the objections section by section, and these are the totals:

The three-year redressal notice of 27 May 2026 shows one answer key change and two questions for which every candidate in the batch was given one mark. The five-year redressal notice of 4 June 2026 records a single answer key update, in the Logical and Analytical section.

Scores

Result and scorecard

The Cell declares each law CET result as a percentile. The LL.B. 3 Yrs CET brochure explains that correct answers give a raw score, scores from different sessions are equated, and each session's raw scores are converted to percentiles calculated to 7 decimal places, so the top scorer of every session gets 100. The percentile that counts is computed on the total raw score, which is why adding up or averaging section percentiles, or treating the figure as marks out of 100, misreads it.

For 2026, the three-year scorecard with the percentile went into the candidate login after objection redressal, per the LL.B. 3 Yrs objection redressal notice of 27 May 2026. The five-year notice of 4 June 2026 said the result would be processed with the answer key change and the scorecard made available in the login.

The Cell's CET statistics sheet shows how many actually sit. For A.Y. 2025-26, the LL.B. 3 Yr CET had 94,506 registered and 74,621 present, and the LL.B. 5 Yr CET had 35,074 registered and 27,372 present. A candidate found with more than one application number is treated as a case of unfair means, per the LL.B. 5 Yrs CET brochure.

Scores you need

Cutoff

Neither 2026 law CET brochure sets a minimum qualifying percentile. The CAP brochures word the entry bar differently: the LL.B. 3 Yrs CAP brochure invites applications from anyone with at least a non-zero score in the 2026 three-year CET, while the matching clause of the LL.B. 5 Yrs CAP 2026-27 Information Brochure asks for a percentile score in the 2026 five-year CET.

What closes is a seat in a particular round at a particular college, and the Cell's cut-off lists are published at that level. The LL.B. 3 Yrs CAP round-wise cut-off page asks a candidate to pick the round, university, college and division, and in mid-September 2026 its round menu offered Round-I and Round-II.

When candidates tie on percentile, the three-year merit list puts a postgraduate degree holder first, then compares postgraduate percentage, graduation percentage, first-language marks at Class 12, Class 10 percentage and finally age, per the LL.B. 3 Yrs CAP brochure. The five-year list compares Class 12 percentage, then Class 10 percentage, then age, per the LL.B. 5 Yrs CAP brochure.

Getting a seat

Counselling and seat allotment

CAP for each course runs on its own portal, with an online application and document upload, provisional merit lists and grievances, a final merit list, college option forms, computerised allotment rounds and then institute-level admission to the seats left over, per the LL.B. 3 Yrs CAP brochure.

How the 2026-27 Rounds Were Reshaped

CAP registration ran from 11 June to 13 July 2026 for the three-year course, per the LLB 3 Yrs CAP Full Schedule 2026, and from 19 June to 17 July 2026 for the five-year course, per the LLB 5 Yrs CAP Full Schedule 2026. When the Round I option form was about to open, the Cell's public notice of 4 August 2026 announced the Round I schedule for the law colleges on a list, received from the Higher and Technical Education Department, of those holding Bar Council of India (BCI) approval and university affiliation.

Three days later the Cell's public notice of 7 August 2026 said several law colleges were still obtaining BCI approval and university affiliation and were being added to CAP as approvals came. For 2026-27 only, it reopened submitted option forms, dropped the auto-freeze of a first-preference seat, and made every allotted candidate choose Freeze or Betterment, each with a Rs 1,000 seat acceptance fee. On 10 August 2026 the BCI granted conditional approval to all existing law colleges for 2026-27, as the Cell's public notice of 12 August 2026 reported, and the option form lock-in notice then set the final deadlines at midnight on 15 August for the five-year course and 16 August for the three-year course.

Rounds II and III

A candidate who took Betterment in Round I and reshuffled the preference order in Round II lost the Round I seat on getting a new college, while one who kept the order kept that seat if no better one came, per the Cell's betterment guidelines for CAP Round II. The Round II notice let candidates who submitted no new option form be considered on their earlier preferences.

The Round III notice of 2 September 2026 calls Round III the last CAP round of 2026-27. It required every candidate not yet admitted to fill a Round III option form, required anyone who had frozen and confirmed an earlier seat to have the college cancel that admission before taking part, ended the earlier seat claim of anyone who changed category, and made a Round III allotment final with no betterment.

Seats still vacant after Round III go to an institute-level round, in which colleges generate merit lists through the CAP portal, and no admission is allowed after the cut-off date, per the LLB 3 Yrs CAP Full Schedule 2026.

Fees, Certificates and Cancellation

Filling the CAP form generally costs nothing extra, but a candidate who moves from a reserved category to Open pays the difference in fee, according to the LL.B. 3 Yrs CAP FAQs. The Rs 1,000 seat acceptance fee is non-refundable, and a candidate who cancels a confirmed admission gets the fee back minus Rs 1,000 as processing charge, unless the cancellation comes after 5 PM on the cut-off date, when only the security and caution money deposits are returned, per the LL.B. 3 Yrs CAP brochure.

Although the CET brochures tell candidates to keep the hall ticket for admission, the Round III notice tells colleges not to insist on the CET hall ticket or verify the CET application form. The same notice lets a reserved-category candidate be admitted on the application receipt for a caste validity, tribe validity, non-creamy layer or EWS certificate, and sets the last date of Round III for uploading it. OBC and SEBC candidates are the exception, their caste validity certificate following the timeline of a General Administration Department resolution; for anyone else who misses the date, the notice has the college cancel the admission and leaves the candidate to try the institutional round as Open.

The caste validity deadline then moved. A CET Cell notice of 4 September 2026 extending caste validity certificate submission, issued in Marathi with the state government circulars attached, gives SC, VJ, NT, SBC and other reserved-category candidates whose admission is confirmed three months from the Social Justice and Special Assistance Department's circular of that date to submit the certificate, tells colleges not to cancel admissions made on a receipt in CAP Rounds I, II or III during that period, and restates that OBC and SEBC candidates have six months from the date they applied for admission.

Where it is accepted

Participating institutes

The CET Cell allots seats in five kinds of law colleges approved by the Government of Maharashtra and affiliated to a non-agricultural university in the state: the government college, government-aided colleges including aided minority colleges, university departments, university-managed institutes and unaided colleges including minority colleges, per the LL.B. 5 Yrs CET brochure.

Seat shares follow the college's funding status. In the government college, non-minority aided colleges and aided university departments, 85% of sanctioned intake goes to Maharashtra State candidates, 10% to All India candidates and up to 5% to NRI, OCI, PIO and foreign candidates, while an aided minority college keeps 50% as minority quota and fills 35% from Maharashtra State candidates. In non-minority unaided colleges and self-financed university departments, 65% goes to Maharashtra State candidates, 15% to All India candidates and 20% is filled at institute level, and an unaided minority college fills at least 51% of seats from its minority, per Schedules I and II of the LL.B. 3 Yrs CAP brochure. The same schedule notes that one seat at Government Law College, Mumbai is filled by a candidate nominated by the Government of Bhutan.

The college count moved during the season. The Cell's Round I public notice of 4 August 2026 counted 93 three-year and 56 five-year colleges on the approved and affiliated list it had received, and the 7 August notice said more were being added as approvals came. On 15 September 2026 the home-page dashboard of the LL.B. 3 Yrs CAP 2026-27 portal read 223 under Approved Colleges and 23,098 under Intake (Total), and the LL.B. 5 Yrs CAP 2026-27 portal read 165 and 13,374. For a completed cycle, the Cell's CAP statistics summary for A.Y. 2024-25 lists a total intake of 21,071 and 20,374 admitted for the three-year LL.B., and 12,731 and 9,438 for the five-year LL.B.

Get help

Contact

Queries about the exam itself go to the CET helpline on the State CET Cell contact page, which gives 07969134401 and 07969134402, the toll-free 18002090191 and the Fort office address on the 8th floor of New Excelsior Building, A. K. Nayak Marg, Mumbai 400 001. The LL.B. 5 Yrs CET brochure prints the same two numbers for technical help from 10 AM to 6 PM.

For admission, both law CAP portals give 9175176036 as the call centre number, between 9 AM and 6 PM on the LL.B. 5 Yrs CAP portal. The LL.B. 3 Yrs CAP brochure routes CAP queries through the ticket system in the candidate's login, and the Cell has set up district-level student facilitation centres for admission queries. NRI and foreign candidates can write to student@mahacet.org or call +91-8879082178, per the LL.B. 3 Yrs CET brochure.

Source

Official links

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Disclaimer

Disclaimer

Exact exam dates, application windows, admit card, answer keys, results, qualifying scores, fees and CAP schedules change every cycle. A CET Cell public notice changed both tests to 120 marks instead of 150 from the academic year 2025-26. Anything per-cycle here is stated for the cycle it names and is taken from the conducting body's own notification; confirm it on the official website before acting on it. Expertie does not conduct any exam, process applications or charge fees.

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