9th National Moot Court Competition

The first day of the 9^th National Moot Court Competition 2022 organized by the School of Law of IMS Unison University kick started in its full grandeur. The event initiated with a delightful inaugural ceremony. The Chief Guest of the event was the Hon’ble Mr. Justice D.S. Tripathi, President of State Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission, Uttarakhand. The Chief Guest and the institutional dignitaries were welcomed in quite a traditional manner.

The event was formally started with a welcome note by the Dean School of Law Prof. (Dr) Ashish Verma. After that, the Vice Chancellor Brigadier Dr. M. Srinivasan (Retd.) was cordially requested to address the gathering with his words of wisdom. He highlighted upon the significance of imperative knowledge of law.

Next our Chief Guest Hon’ble Justice Mr. D.S. Tripathi, provided the participants and students with the guidance and requirements of good qualities in an advocate with the help of his legendary experience in the field of law. He highlighted the importance of hard work and more importantly a “GURU” in every student’s life. The basic ideas of the court working are enhanced through a participation in such competition was also concluded by the Hon’ble Chief Guest.

Followed by the vote of thanks by Dr. Udai Pratap Singh, faculty co-convener, Moot Court Society.

Next, all the participants were asked to proceed for an exhaustive researcher’s test, draw of lots and memorial exchange. Every team was made to appear as petitioner and respondent, in subsequent rounds. Later, a session by the trainer of SCC online was organized by the executives of the renowned SCC that deals with the legal contents.

Then everyone with head full of zeal moved to the most awaited moment of the day that was the dual preliminary rounds for the 9^th National Moot Court Competition, 2022. The competition revolved around constitutional law, The Places of Worship Act, 1991 and Criminal Procedure Code, 1973. Participants showed great enthusiasm during the proceedings and the arguments, the judges grilled the participants with some strenuous questions about the proceedings. After that, the second Preliminary Round began. It also witnessed some intriguing questioning and answering of the judges and the participants, respectively.

After the announcement of results 4 out of 12 teams made their way to the semi-finals. These teams were Faculty of Law, Maharaja Sayajirao University, Gujarat (TC-02), University Institute of Legal Studies, Punjab (TC-09), Quantum University, Roorkee (TC-15) and Asian Law College, Noida (TC-25).

DAY 2

On day 2 of the 9^th National Moot Court Competition, 2022 the students at the host University gathered in unison to witness the semi-final and final proceedings of the event.

A total of 4 Judges were invited for the semi-finals hailing from all fields of legal profession. By noon, the hearings winded up and with the declaration of results, the competition geared up to the next level. 2 out of 4 teams that is University Institute of Legal Studies, Chandigarh (TC-09), and Asian Law College, Noida (TC-25) qualified to contest in the semi-finals.

The Judges for final invited for the day were Hon’ble Mr. Justice B.P. Singh (retired), Mr. Rashid Malik Jeelani and Prof. Abhishek Sinha. The major fundamental rights invoked in the Moot Proposition and innumerable case laws were highlighted by the parties and thereinafter questioned by the Bench. After around 2 hours of lively hearings, the proceedings came to an end with everyone looking forward to the team that was supposed to win. However, this was evident that all of this would have boggled the minds of the Judges to decide it fairly.

The organising committee thereinafter proceeded with the task of result compilation and the valedictory ceremony that was to be followed by award-distributing procession. After the lighting of the lamp, a warm welcome address was extended by Prof. (Dr.) Ashish Verma. He also acknowledged the teams, Judges and the organising committee for everyone’s co-operation. He motivated the students by quoting from the autobiography of Mahatma Gandhi, about how we can overcome our fears with practice.

Further, Dr. Shalini Saxena, Faculty Convenor, presented procés-verbal on the two days of event. She expressed that it wasn’t really a cake-walk to organise the event. At the end of her speech, she bid an adieu to the reverend Judges.

Followed by address of Prof. (Dr.) Ravikesh Srivastava Pro-Vice Chancellor. He encouraged the students to actively participate in the Moot Competitions not only Nationally but also Internationally.

Finally, the most awaited address was delivered by the Chief Guest of the Valedictory Ceremony, Honourable Justice Mr. B.P. Singh (Retd. Supreme Court Judge). His address highlighted the importance of integrity in legal profession. He also shared his personal experience about his journey from being a young lawyer to the Judge of the Supreme Court of India. He said that the budding lawyers should focus more on learning rather than on monetary aspects of the profession. A momento was presented to the Hon’ble Chief Guest by the institutional dignitaries as a token of respect by the Moot Court Society.

Soon after, the results were announced and University Institute of Legal Studies Punjab University (TC-09) emerged as the winner for the 9^th National Moot Court Competition 2022, and Asian Law College, Noida (TC-25) contended with being the runners up.

Other participants were also felicitated for their meritorious performance under different categories as follows:  

Best Mooter Male (TC -02) - Faculty of Law, The Maharaja Syajirao University, Ankur Mahendrakumar Baria (Speaker 2)

Best Mooter Female (TC - 15) - Quantum School of Law, Quantum University, Roorkee, Juveriya Kazmi (Speaker - 1)

Best Researcher (TC-21) - Himgiri Zee University, Dehradun - Anand Dwivedi

Best Memorial (TC - 13) - Amity University, Noida

The event concluded with felicitation of the organising committee done by the Chief Guest and other dignitaries.

Lastly, the Vote of Thanks was given by student convenors of Moot Court Society, Ms. Ipsa and Mr. Neelesh Sharma.The event came to a close with a distinct spark on the faces of all participants and organizing committee.