Faculty of Law Holds its Annual Intra-Faculty Moot Court Competition

The faculty of law held its annual Intra-Faculty Moot Court Competition on Saturday, March 12, 2011.

Moot courts are organized at law schools as a practice ground for future litigants and advocates.

The participants take part in simulated court proceedings which includes drafting briefs (or memorials) and participating in oral argument in front of judges. Moot court does not involve actual testimony by witnesses or the presentation of evidence, but is focused solely on the application of the law to a common set of evidentiary assumptions to which the competitors must be introduced. Points are awarded by judges on different parameters such as oratory skills, argumentative skills, understanding of the problem, etiquette of the court room etc.

The “moot” problem of the competition at faculty of law was based on, whether reasonable restrictions could be imposed on a lawyers right to profess his profession under article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution of India.

There were 10 teams participating from within the faculty of law. Each team consisted of three students. The teams were to be selected on the points they scored. And it had three rounds.

The competition started with preliminary rounds and the top-four teams went into the semi-finals. The final round was won by the team consisting of Lukman Hasan Kazmi and Ritika Arneja who played the roles of a “speaker” and presented the case, while Suchi Sejwar had the role of a “researcher” who collected all the materials related to the case and compiled them to make arguments for the petitioner as well as the respondents in the simulated case.

Runner-up team consisted of Bipsy Varkay (speaker), Vijay Laxmi (speaker) and Ayush Jha (researcher).

Lukman Hasan Kazmi and Abhay Ojha were adjudged the best speakers among male contestants and Bipsy Varkay were adjudged the best speaker among female contestants.

Best Memorial Award was given to Ayush Jha, which is given for compiling the best “memorial”: a file that consists of cases and arguments.

The dignitaries at the event who acted as judges were Dr. Rose Verghese, Dr.Asad Malik, Dr. Kahkashan Y. Danyal, Dr. Nuzhat Parween khan, Assistant Professor Ghulam Yazdani, Advocate Rajesh Shordha, Advocate Prem Bahadur, Advocate Rubina Yasmin, Advocate Rashid Ahmad, Advocate Hasan Ahuzar and Advocate Firdouse Qutbwani.

The competition was organized by the Moot Court Committee of which Dr. Kahkashan Y. Danyal is the convener. She was assisted by Moot Court Organising Committee consisting of Bharat Chugh (5th year), Nabeela Wali (5th year), Megha Sharma (5th year), Ravi Tyagi (3rd year) and Kazim Ibrahim (3rd year).

While addressing the students present during the prize distribution ceremony, the dean for the faculty of law, Dr. Rose Verghese said, “They all put in very well (performance) and it was a very good experience.”

And Advocate Rajesh Shordha remarked, “Participants were very good. And some of the participants were as good as seasoned advocates.”

Scenes From the Event

*Click on an image to enlarge.