Schedule:
29th May, 2021
| 09:00 AM | Introduction of the Moot Court Competition by Mr. Manav Gecil Thomas |
| 09:05 to 09:10 AM | Welcome address by Mr. Thomas George |
| 09:15 to 09:45 AM | Chief Guest Address by Hon'ble Justice Kurian Joseph sir |
| 09:45 AM | Vote of Thanks by Mrs. P C Nirmala |
| 10:00 AM | Preliminary Judges Orientation |
| 11:00 AM | Commencement of Preliminary Rounds |
| 01:00 PM | Announcement of Results |
| 04:00 PM | Quarters Judges Orientation |
| 05:00 PM | Commencement of Rounds |
| 07:00 PM | Announcement of Results |
30th May, 2021
| 11:00 AM | Commencement of Semi-Final Rounds |
| 01:00 PM | Announcement of Results |
| 03: 00 PM | Commencement of Finals |
| 05: 00 PM | Valedictory Ceremony |
Memorial Exchange:
| Court Room | Court Master | Petitioner | Respondent |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Anirudh Grover | Asmaa Amatullah Khan & Swarna Naatchu | Rajlaxmi Nimbalkar & Shefali Datrange |
| 2 | Lakshya Godara | Jatin Sharma & Mahima Gupta | Pratiksha Priyadarsini & Vedang Upadhyay |
| 3 | Anushree Sutaone | Amit Kumar Shetty & Swathi. N | Kanika Adake & Piali Thatte |
| 4 | Deepansh Gupta | Aishi Barat & Sudhanshu Mani Tripathi | Parul Sardana & Satyam Singala |
| 5 | Meghna Jain | Alan Avaneesh & Fenn Oommen | Siddhi Kapoor & Shreya Dubey |
| 6 | Kushala Sai | Ameya Jadhav & Sachal Mantri | Harshit Anand & Vaibhavi Gangadhar |
| 7 | Md. Asrar | Abhinav Vishwanath & Kirti Sikdar | Jisha Sarkar & Sakshi Tiwari |
| 8 | Mansi Jain | Asmi Devang Desai & Shruti Vinodkumar Shrisath | Anjali Pradeep & Sankar Govind |
| 9 | Neha Koppu | Ashutosh Jadhav & Kanishq Mishra | Arunima Sharma & Shambhavi Sharan |
| 10 | Harshita Patidar | Rubal Kaindal & Soni Kachwai | Amisha Sah & Yashasvi Singh |
| 11 | Anupreet Kaur | Akshay Gourav & Kush Kakkar | P. Sree Ramya & Goda Tejaswi |
| 12 | Preeti Mishra | Krishna Priya Lahari & Ram Sharan Dwivedi | Aldrin Zothanmawia & David Malsawmtluanga |
| 13 | Divya Dandekar | Adarsh Kumar & Om Shree Shukla | Ankit Kumar & Rehaan Danish |
Chief guest of Inaugural Ceremony
Justice Kurian Joseph is a former Judge of the Supreme Court of India. He pursued his higher education from Bharat Mata College, Thrikkakara affiliated to Mahatma Gandhi University and Sree Sankara College, affiliated to University of Kerala, Trivandrum.
Justice Joseph joined the judicial service in 1979. Initially he was the member of the Academic Council, Kerala University from 1977 to 1978, General Secretary of Kerala University Union in 1978, Senate member of Cochin University from 1983 to 1985, member of the Board of Studies, Indian Legal Thought of Mahatma Gandhi University in 1996, President Kerala Judicial Academy from 2006 to 2008, Chairman of Kerala High Court Legal Services Committee from 2006 to 2009 and Chairman of Lakshadweep Legal Services Authority in 2008.
He also served as Government Pleader in 1987 and as Additional Advocate General from 1994 to 1996. He was designated as Senior Advocate in 1996.
Justice Joseph has also been the Chairman of the Indian Law Institute Kerala Branch, Chairman of Indian Law Reports (Kerala Series) and Executive Member of National University of Advanced Legal Studies.
In 2000, Justice Joseph was appointed as a judge of the Kerala High Court. In February 2010, he was elevated as Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court. On 8 March 2013, he became a Judge of the Supreme Court of India.
After a glorious career, he retired on 29 November, 2018.
Moot Coordinator
Anjali Nishtala is a 4th year BA LLB student from Pendekanti Law College, Osmania University. With a keen interest in law and social welfare, she plans to make International Law and Human Rights her niche.
During her college career, she has been instrumental in forming a law journal, a first among the Law colleges in Hyderabad. Apart from this, she is also a founder of an NGO: Vridhii Bharat, which focuses on continued legal education and legal aid.
Volunteers Profile
Prizes:
1. The Best Team is awarded with a cash prize of Rs. 5000 along with a momento and certificate of merit.
2. The first Runners Up is awarded with a cash prize of Rs. 2000 and certificate of merit.
3. The team with the Best Memorial is awarded a cash prize of Rs. 1000 along with a momento and certificate of merit.
4. The Best speaker with score of 50/50 is awarded a cash prize of Rs.1000 along with a momento and certificate of merit.
5. The Best speaker for final round is awarded a cash prize of Rs.1000 .
6. Certificates of merit and participation are dispatched to the addresses of the participants.
Profile of the judge for Final Rounds
Justice Abraham Mathew is a former Kerala High Court Judge. He hails from Chempu (Vaikom) in Kottayam District and has obtained his Law degree from Law College, Thane (university of Bombay).
Justice Mathew joined the judicial service in 1988. Initially he joined as a Munsiff-Magistrate but was soon promoted to the post of Sub-Judge and District Judge subsequently.
He was appointed as the Additional Director in the Directorate of Training (renamed as Kerala Judicial Academy), High Court of Kerala in 2004. He served as the Director in Kerala Judicial Academy, Erunakulam from 2010-2012. He was then posted as the Registrar (Vigilance), High Court of Kerala in 2012 and went on to serve as the District & Sessions Judge, Thodupuzha from March to December 2013.
He was sworn in as the Additional Judge of the High Court of Kerala on 1st January 2014, and was appointed as a permanent judge with effect from 10th March, 2016.
After a glorious career, he retired on 18 January, 2019.
Winner for Final Round
| S.No. | Team Name | Judges |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Amit Kumar Shetty & Swathi. N | Hon’ble Justice Abraham Mathew Sir |
Profile of Judges for Semi-Final Rounds
Mr. Deepak Bhattacharjeee
Mr. L Ravichander
Mr. Thomas George
Mr. Tariq Khan
Teams Qualified for Semi-Final Rounds
| S.No. | Team Name | Judges |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kanika Adake & Piali Thatte | Thomas George |
| 2 | Amit Kumar Shetty & Swathi. N | Thomas George |
Profile of Judges for Quarter-Final Rounds
Mr. Namit Saxena
Mr. Amir Bavani
Ms. Parvathy Tharamel
Mr. Sajith Valapilakandi
Ms. PRAGYA KHAITAN
Mr. Siddharth
Mr. Raghenth Basant
Ms. Liz Mathew
Mr. Suchindran Baskar Narayan
Mr. Manav Gecil Thomas
Teams Qualified for Quarter Final Rounds
| S.No. | Team Name | Judges |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kanika Adake & Piali Thatte | Aamir Ali |
| 2 | Harshit Anand & Vaibhavi Gangadhar | Manav Gecil Thomas |
| 3 | Amit Kumar Shetty & Swathi. N | Aamir Ali |
| 4 | Rubal Kaindal & Soni Kachwai | Siddharth Agarwal |
| 5 | P. Sree Ramya & Goda Tejaswi | Ragenth |
| 6 | Ankit Kumar & Rehaan Danish | Parvathy Tharamel |
| 7 | Jisha Sarkar & Sakshi Tiwari | Liz Matthews |
| 8 | Amisha Sah & Yashasvi Singh | Manav Gecil Thomas |
Profile of Judges for Preliminary Rounds
Raghenth Basant
Liz Mathew
Sajith Valapilakandi
Suchindran Baskar
Mr. Sravan Unnam
Mr. Arijeet Banerjee
Ms. Radhika Gupta
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Mr. PUSHKAR N.PATIL
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Ms. Saranya Chandrasekaran
Mr. Aman Dutta
Ms. Tanya Singh
Mr. Rishabh Malaviya
Ms. MARY JOSSY
Mr. Jerin Asher Sojan
Ms. Reshmi Hossain
Mr. Aatif Salaar
Mr. Rahul Thomas
Mr. Anand Mohan
Mr. Vaibhav Vora
Mr. Ishaan George
Mr. Mahir Chablani
Ms. Deepa Rai
Ms. Shrusti Mahajan
Teams Qualified for Preliminary Rounds
| S.No. | Team Name | Judges |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kanika Adake & Piali Thatte | Aamir Ali |
| 2 | Harshit Anand & Vaibhavi Gangadhar | Manav Gecil Thomas |
| 3 | Amit Kumar Shetty & Swathi. N | Aamir Ali |
| 4 | Rubal Kaindal & Soni Kachwai | Siddharth Agarwal |
| 5 | P. Sree Ramya & Goda Tejaswi | Ragenth |
| 6 | Ankit Kumar & Rehaan Danish | Parvathy Tharamel |
| 7 | Jisha Sarkar & Sakshi Tiwari | Liz Matthews |
| 8 | Amisha Sah & Yashasvi Singh | Manav Gecil Thomas |
| 9 | Akshay Gourav & Kush Kakkar | Siddharth Agarwal |
| 10 | Pratiksha Priyadarsini & Vedang Upadhyay | Sravan Unnam |
| 11 | Siddhi Kapoor & Shreya Dubey | Manav Gecil Thomas |
| 12 | Asmi Devang Desai & Shruti Vinodkumar Shrisath | Ragenth |
| 13 | Adarsh Kumar & Om Shree Shukla | Manav Gecil Thomas |
| 14 | Krishna Priya Lahari & Ram Sharan Dwivedi | Sravan Unnam |
| 15 | Anjali Pradeep & Sankar Govind | Parvathy Tharamel |
| 16 | Ashutosh Jadhav & Kanishq Mishra | Liz Matthews |
| 17 | Ameya Jadhav & Sachal Mantri | Namit Saxena |
| 18 | Aishi Barat & Sudhanshu Mani Tripathi | Namit Saxena |
| 19 | Parul Sardana & Satyam Singala | Suchindran Bhaskaran |
| 20 | Aldrin Zothanmawia & David Malsawmtluanga | Suchindran Bhaskaran |
Moot Proposition Rules
THE 2nd NATIONAL VIRTUAL MOOT COURT COMPETITION, 2021
CONDUCTED BY: THOMAS GEORGE AND ASSOCIATES,HYDERABAD
1. The Republic of Replemento is the largest democracy in the world with a population of around 140 crores.
2. The Republic of Replemento consists of people from different strata of the society, people from different religions, people from different educational and financial backgrounds, etc. The Republic of Replemento is thus, a secular, socialist, economic and a democratic nation.
3. In the International Nation’s Organisation, almost all the countries of the world are member nations and the Republic of Replemento in recent times has gained public popularity in the said organisation, thereby boosting the economy and the image of the country, on an international platform.
4. For many years in the Republic of Replemento, there existed a law which criminalised “unnatural sexual intercourse” irrespective of gender, with or without consent. This was an Anglican law opposed for centuries together by the LGBTQIA+ community. The said law was condemned by various countries and the Republic of Replemento was termed as inhuman and furthermore various countries made public statements that the said law was against the basic tenets of Human Rights.
5. The Highest Court of the Republic of Replemento thereafter, held the “right to privacy” as a Fundamental Right and furthermore held that as far as the said law criminalises the consensual sexual acts of adults i.e., persons above the age of 18 years, who are competent to consent in private as violative of Articles 14, 15, 19, and 21 of the Constitution. The Court went on to mention an interesting quote from the great German thinker Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, which reads, “I am what I am, so take me as I am”. Thus, by virtue of the said decision, consensual sexual acts of adults were no longer criminal. The said decision was well received by the LGBTQIA+ community.
6. However, in the said decision the civil rights of the LGBTQIA+ community was neither discussed nor upheld. Surprisingly, a few years later, a decision was passed by the Highest Court of the Republic of Replemento dismissing the plea filed for granting civil rights to the members of the LGBTQIA+ community.
7. Thereafter, various Writ Petitions were filed before the various High Courts in the country to read the word “person” as defined under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, and Special Marriage Act, 1954, so as to include people of the same sex. Such Writ Petitions opened floodgates regarding the grant of civil rights to the members of LGBTQIA+ community. The Republic of Replemento filed their reply opposing the same as it is against the “cultures and ethos” of the country.
8. In order to avoid conflicting decisions that may be passed by the various High Courts, the Highest Court of Republic of Replemento became seized of the matter and all the cases stood transferred.
9. Thus, the following issues are to be argued by both the sides wherein, the Petitioners include members from the Queer community, NGOs, and the Respondent is the Republic of Replemento:
- I. Whether or not the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, and Special Marriage Act, 1954, can be read in a manner to include members from the LGBTQIA+ community?
- II. Whether or not civil rights can be granted to the members of the community?
- III. Whether or not the customs, traditions, rites, rituals, form an exhaustive code as contested by the Republic of Replemento?
- IV. Whether or not members from the said community can be allowed to be married as per the rituals of their respective religions?
The laws of Republic of Replemento are in pari materia with that of the Union of India
Rules for the Competition:
- I. Two students from any law college are eligible to form a team for the purpose of participating in this competition.
- II. Team shall not comprise of a researcher, thus, both the team members are speakers.
- III. Teams shall be known by the names of students alphabetically, for instance, if two students i.e., Mr. Suresh Rana of X Law College, Hyderabad and Ms. Padmavathi Rathore of Y Law College, Delhi choose to form a team, then, the team code shall be Ms. Padmavathi Rathore and Mr. Suresh Rana. Alphabetically meaning P preceded S in the example.
- IV. Students of all years of the Five year and Three year law courses are eligible to participate in this Competition.
- V. It is not mandatory to send in the acceptance email through the official email Ids of the colleges or through Moot Court Society Email Ids, however acceptance emails can be sent through the personal email id of any team member.
- VI. Any member of a team to send an official mail from their personal email ids with the team code agreeing to participate in the said competition on or before 30/04/2021. The said email must provide the postal addresses with pincodes of both the team members, mobile numbers of both the team members, Scanned Copy of College ID Card of both the team members.
- VII. For all further correspondences the teams shall communicate using their email Id used for sending the confirmation email and no communication from new Email Ids will be entertained.
- VIII. There is no limit for the number of teams from each institution.
- IX. Each speaker shall speak for 15 minutes subject to extension granted by the judge.
- X. The link for the competition will be sent to the email ids from which the soft copy of the memorials are sent.
- XI. Competition will be held on 29/05/2021 and the qualifying teams will contest in the further rounds on 29/05/2021 and 30/05/2021. A short Inauguration ceremony shall take place on 29/05/2021 which shall be attended by all participants without fail.
- XII. Steady internet connection to be maintained.
- XIII. Cameras to be turned on at all times during the rounds.
- XIV. Compendiums to be sent online only by 26th May, 2021 before 5 pm.
- XV. Breach of deadlines shall entail disqualification.
- XVI. In case during the rounds if there is any internet interruption from the side of the participant, then, a 5 minutes extension only will be granted, subject to the discretion of the judge.
- XVII. Feedback after the rounds shall be provided.
- XVIII. All clarifications sought to be sent on or before 1st May, 2021.
- XIX. Dress Code for Men: White Shirt, Black or Grey Blazer, Black or Grey formal pants.XX. Dress Code for Women: White Salwar Kameez with dupatta or White Shirt, Black or Grey Blazer, Black or Grey formal pants or skirt.
- XXI. Failure to follow the dress code shall entail disqualification subject to the discretion of the Judge.
- XXII. The Moot Court Coordinator is Ms. Anjali Nishtala who can be contacted during working hours i.e., 11 am - 6pm at +91 9553887452. No contact shall be made on Public Holidays and Sundays.
- XXIII. All email correspondences to be sent to nationalmootcourttga2021@gmail.com
Memorial Rules:
1. Each team to prepare a Written Memorials for the side of Petitioners and the side Respondent.
2. Blue Colour Cover Page for the Written Memorial of the Petitioners.
3. Red Colour Cover Page for the Written Memorial of the Respondent.
4. Soft Copies of the Memorials to be sent by 16th May, 2021, before 5 pm.
5. Hard Copies of the Memorials to be sent by 18th May, 2021, before 5 pm.
6. Memorials shall not exceed 4 A4 size pages of MS Word docx. However, index, index of authorities, facts of the case, issues framed, and prayer shall not be included while arriving at 4 pages.
7. Body of Contents: Font size- 12, Font Style- Bookman Old Style, Line Spacing- 1.5, Paragraph Spacing- 0, Margin- Default as mentioned in MS Word docx.
8. Footnotes: Font size- 10, Font Style- Bookman Old Style, Line Spacing- 1
9. Memorials will be exchanged between the respective teams on 27/05/2021 at 10:00 AM.
| Sl. No. | EVENT | DEADLINE |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Confirmation Email | On or before 30/04/2021 |
| 2 | Clarifications regarding the Competition and Moot Problem | On or before 1/05/2021 |
| 3 | Soft Copy of Moot Memorials | 16/05/2021 (05:00PM) |
| 4 | Hard Copy of Moot Memorials | 18/05/2021 (05:00PM) |
| 5 | Compendiums to be sent online | 26/05/2021 (05:00PM) | 6 | Memorial Exchange | 27/05/2021 (10:00AM) | 7 | Inauguration & Rounds of the Competition | 29/05/2021 & 30/05/2021 |
THE ENTIRE MOOT PROBLEM IS COMPLETELY BASED ON FICTION AND HAS NO RESEMBLANCE TO ANY HAPPENING OF ANY EVENT IN ANY COUNTRY AND IT IS NOT AIMED AT HURTING ANY SENTIMENTS. THE SAID COMPETITION IS ONLY FOR THE PURPOSES ON ENHANCING THE LITIGATION SKILLS OF LAW STUDENTS
FAQ's
1Is there any registration fees to be paid?
No.
2 Is it compulsory to send hard copies of memorials?
Due to the pandemic, Rule 5 of Memorial Rules stands cancelled.
3How many copies of memorials need to be sent?
In view of the cancellation of Rule 5 of Memorial Rules, an online copy is sufficient.
4 When should the Memorials be sent online?
In view of the cancellation of Rule 5 of Memorial Rules, Rule 4 of Memorial Rules stands modified. The last date to send the Memorials for the side of the Petitioner and for the side of the Respondent is 18/05/2021 on or before 05:00 PM. Delay will entail disqualification. The Memorials shall be sent in PDF format only.
5 What are the names of the NGOs and the members of the Queer Community that have filed this petition?
For purposes of brevity and clarity and convenience the name of the lead Petitioner is Rainbow Non-Profit Organization.
6 Will the Statement of Jurisdiction and Summary of Arguments be accounted for within the 4 pages of Arguments Advanced?
Rule 6 of the Memorial Rules are clear on the issue. However, the query is answered to clear the ambiguity if any. The Memorial shall consist of 4 A4 size Pages of the MS Word Document. The 4 pages shall include the entire arguments for all the 4 issues raised. The ancillary pages viz., Index, Index of Authorities, Bibliography, Facts, Issues, Summary of Arguments, Prayer etc., shall not be counted in the page limit. Thus, the Memorial page count fixed is only for the Arguments for all the issues totally.
7 Is the 4 page limit specific to a single issue or the whole of Arguments Advanced?
As reiterated above, the page limit is for arguments advanced for all the issues together.
8 The following is mentioned in rule no.6 of the memorial rules
"Memorials shall not exceed 4 A4 size pages of MS Word docx. However, index, index of authorities, facts of the case, issues framed, and prayer shall not be included while arriving at 4 pages". Is the abovementioned '4 pages' intended to be the maximum page limit for arguments advanced? And if it is so, i would like to make a humble request to please consider increasing this limit. It is my sincere belief that increasing the page limit would allow us to present more thoroughly explained arguments backed with numerous citations. In these times of the pandemic precise drafting is what is highly appreciated. We expect the teams to showcase such skills.
9 If possible, please provide a detailed document regarding the marking criteria of the memorial
No.
10 When will the teams be allotted?
The Memorial round is scheduled to be held on 27/05/2021 at 10:00AM. The teams against whom you are pitted against will be revealed on 27/05/2021. The side for which each team shall argue in the Preliminary Rounds also will be announced on 27/05/2021.
11Do the 15 minutes also include the time for rebuttals?
The division of time is upon each team. However, an additional minute above 30 minutes is provided to each team for rebuttal and sur-rebuttal. Thus each round is designated to be completed within 62 minutes i.e., 30 minutes for Petitioner + 30 minutes for Respondent + 1 minute for Rebuttal by Petitioner + 1 minute Sur-rebuttal by Respondent.
12 Can a Speaker yield their time to the other Speaker in the same team?
Yes, the speaker can yield any remainder time after having presented, to the Co-speaker.
13 Is there a limit on Compendium?
No, there is no page limit on the compendium. Compendiums must contain all the case laws referred and cited in Arguments advanced.
14Issue 3 mentions the term "Exhaustive Code." Is it possible to get some clarity on the meaning of this term? Does it mean the "Hindu Code Bill"?
The bare dictionary definition can be used to understand the term. However, teams are free to interpret in any reasonable and logical manner as they deem fit. The definition is not restricted to a single religion.
15Are there any Fundamental Rights of the Petitioner that have breached or under threat in the current problem statement?
The question requires no clarification.
16 What rights must be included in civil rights? Can the rights of adoption, maintenance and right to family include in it?
Civil rights as the term envisages a bundle of rights. Civil rights can include the right to marry, right to procreate, right to surrogacy, right to adoption, right to maintenance, right to divorce proceedings, etc.
17 Mock Session round
There will be a mock session to test the internet connection of each team on 23/05/2021 around 10:00 AM. The entire rounds will be conducted on Googlemeet application. Each team to join on 23/05/2021 for the purpose of testing the internet connection and the said round is to enlighten the teams on the usage of the virtual mode. A Whatsapp group will be created wherein all the Schedules and links for the rounds will be posted. The updates of the Moot can be viewed on the Website of the firm i.e., www.tgalaw.in
18 Inauguration Ceremony
The Inauguration Ceremony will be on 29/05/2021 at 09:00AM.
19 Preliminary Rounds
40 teams shall compete against each other, out of which 20 teams shall qualify to the Quarter-Finals. The Preliminary Rounds shall start at 11:00AM on 29/05/2021.
20 Quarter-Final Rounds
20 teams shall compete against each other, out of which 8 teams shall qualify to the Semi-Finals. The Quarter-Final Rounds shall start at 05:00PM on 29/05/2021. Results will be published on the website of the firm.
21 Semi-Final Rounds
8 teams shall compete against each other, out of which 2 teams shall qualify to the Finals. The Semi-Final Rounds shall start at 10:00 AM on 30/05/2021. Results will be published on the website of the firm.
22 Final Rounds
The Final Rounds shall start at 03:00 PM on 30/05/2021.
23 Valedictory Ceremony & Prize distribution
The declaration of Results followed by prize distribution and the ceremony shall be held on 30/05/2021 at 05:00 PM.