Maharashtra does not run a single law entrance exam. It runs two — the MAH LL.B. 3-Year CET for graduates and the MAH LL.B. 5-Year CET for candidates entering directly after class 12 — and clearing either only gets a candidate into a separate Centralised Admission Process (CAP) where seats are actually allotted. Both are conducted by the State Common Entrance Test Cell, Government of Maharashtra.
For a national-level aspirant used to the single-window CLAT model, this three-part structure is the thing most often misunderstood.
Who conducts it, and under what authority
The State Common Entrance Test Cell was established by the Government of Maharashtra under Section 10 of the Maharashtra Unaided Private Professional Educational Institutions (Regulation of Admissions and Fees) Act, 2015. It conducts entrance tests across professional courses in the State, of which the two law CETs are part. Its official portal is cetcell.mahacet.org; the CAP rounds run on separate course-specific sub-portals.
The two exams
| MAH LL.B. 3-Year CET 2026 | MAH LL.B. 5-Year CET 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry point | After graduation | After class 12 |
| Exam date | 1 and 2 April 2026 | 8 May 2026 (per tentative schedule) |
| Mode | Online only, multiple sessions, selected centres in Maharashtra | Per CET Cell notification for the cycle |
| Governing eligibility | Three-year graduation degree in any faculty from a UGC-recognised university on the 10+2+3 pattern | Class 12 qualification |
The 3-Year CET was conducted only in online mode in multiple sessions at selected centres within Maharashtra. The multiple-session format has a direct consequence candidates should anticipate: results across sessions are normalised, so raw score and final standing are not the same number.
The 5-Year CET date of 8 May 2026 comes from the CET Cell's tentative schedule notice dated 21 November 2025. Note the word tentative — that is the CET Cell's own characterisation, and dates on a tentative schedule move.
Eligibility, including the distance-mode point
For the three-year course, the CET Cell's stated requirement is a three-year graduation degree in any faculty from a UGC-recognised university following the 10+2+3 pattern. Importantly, candidates who obtained their +2 certificate or first degree through distance or correspondence mode are also considered eligible to appear for the CET.
That is a narrower point than it looks. Eligibility to sit the CET is not the same as eligibility for the LL.B. under the Bar Council of India's Rules of Legal Education, 2008, which exclude distance-mode law instruction from the definition of a Centre of Legal Education. The distance-mode acceptance here concerns the qualifying degree, not the law degree itself.
The age-limit position is litigation-contingent
The CET Cell recorded that for academic year 2026-27 there is no upper age limit, in view of pending cases in the Supreme Court and the Bombay High Court, and that admissions remain subject to the final outcome of those writ petitions.
We report this exactly as the CET Cell frames it, and no further. It is a conditional administrative position pending adjudication, not a settled entitlement, and a candidate relying on it should re-read the CET Cell's current notice rather than this article.
CAP — where seats are actually allotted
Clearing the CET produces a score, not a seat. Allotment runs through the Centralised Admission Process, in which candidates submit an option form ranking colleges, with the ability to unlock and resubmit options within the deadline. For the 2026-27 three-year LL.B. cycle, the CAP portal recorded a last date of 16 August 2026 (midnight) for option-form submission.
One CAP detail is worth flagging because it connects to Bar Council approval: only law colleges approved by the competent authorities for the relevant academic year are made available on the CAP portal, with others added in subsequent rounds subject to approval. A college absent from round one is not necessarily absent permanently — but it is also not yet approved.
Separate tracks exist for two categories:
- Out-of-Maharashtra candidates seeking All India candidature must fill the CET application form under the Open Category.
- NRI candidates are exempt from the CET entirely and register directly for CAP as foreign candidates on the official portal after the CET result.
Fees for the CET application must be paid online only, through net banking, credit or debit card, IMPS or wallets, with applicable service charges; no other payment mode is permitted.
Stated as a gap: the 2026 application fee amounts and the seat matrix across participating colleges were not verified against a CET Cell document for this article and are therefore not stated. Take both from the Information Brochure for your specific CET.
What to do now
- Identify which of the two CETs applies to you before anything else — graduate entry and post-class-12 entry are separate exams with separate applications.
- Download the Information Brochure for your CET, not a summary. It carries eligibility, reservation, fee and centre detail.
- Track CAP dates separately from CET dates. Missing the option-form deadline forfeits allotment even with a strong score.
- Verify each shortlisted college's Bar Council approval independently — see our guide on verifying BCI approval, and on how the approval and inspection cycle works.