ADHIVAKTA PARISHAD, JHARKHAND
FIRST STATE MOOT COURT COMPETITION
(27th NOVEMBER and 3rd DECEMBER, 2022)
RULES OF THE COMPETITION:-
1. GENERAL
1.1 Team Composition
Each team shall comprise of maximum three (3) members
only, consisting of two (2) speakers and one (1) researcher
and minimum two members consisting of two speakers.
1.2 Eligibility
Participation is restricted to bona-fide law students either
enrolled in the 3-year LL.B Law course or the 5-years
Integrated Law course. Participation is limited to only two
teams per college or university.
1.3 Official Language
The official language of the Competition is English. All
Competition Rounds including the submissions (memorials)
will be in English.
1.4 Dress Code
The dress code for the participants during the Rounds of the
competition shall be Black and White formals.
2. REGISTRATION
2.1 All Law colleges must provisionally register themselves by
simply sending an email before 20 th November, 2022 on with
the following details:
Name of the team members: - (if available),
Name of Law College:-
Phone number and Email id of the Coordinator of
team/college.:-
2.2 Two teams may be allowed from each law college. There
is mandatory of an authorization letter from the law
college/University. So, it is advisable to get an authorization
letter from the college/University.
2.3 There shall be Rs.1000/per Team Registration Fee.
2.4 All teams shall be given a “Team Code” by the Organizers
on completing their Registration. Thereafter the teams shall
use their designated “Team Code” for all correspondence with
the Organizers.
2.5 The assigned “Team Code” must be used by the teams
during the submission of Memorials and during all the Rounds
of the Competition.
3. Qualification:
3.1 The Competition shall consist of two rounds (i) Memorial
Selection Round &(ii) Oral Rounds
3.2 The Top teams with the highest memorial scores will be
entitled to participate in oral rounds.
4. ORAL ROUNDS
The Oral rounds shall be held over a period of Two days
(including Inauguration Day) and will comprise (a) Two
Preliminary Rounds (b) Semi-Final Round (e) Final Round of
Arguments.
5. Preliminary Rounds
5.1 There will be TWO Preliminary Rounds.
5.2 After preliminary round, top 4 teams will be selected for
Semi Final rounds.
5.3 In the event of a tie in the Round Total of the top 4
teams, the team with a higher Memorial Score will be qualified
for Semi Final Round.
5.4 In case the tie persists, the decision of the judges will be
deemed to be final.
7.4 A team shall be credited with a win in the Pre Round if
their Round
Total is greater than that of the Opposing Team.
8. Semi Final Rounds
8.1 Four (4) teams shall advance to the Semi-Final Rounds of
Arguments from the Pre Rounds of Argument.
8.2 The Semi-Final Round shall consist of one (1) Mooting
Round and will be a“Knock-Out” Round as well where the
winner of each Semi-Final Round pairing will advance to the
Final Round of Arguments.
8.3 A team shall be credited with a win in the Semi-Final
Rounds if their Round Total as defined in Clause 8.2 is greater
than the opposing team.
8.4 Two (2) teams shall advance to the Final Rounds from the
Semi-Final Rounds. The Final Round pairings will be according
to a draw of lots.
9. Final Round of Arguments
The Final Round shall also consist of one (1) Mooting Round
which will be a“Knock Out” Round where the team with the
higher Round Total as defined in Clause 8.2 shall be declared
as the Best Team.
10. MEMORIALS:
10.1 Format Specifications
All teams must submit typed Memorials fulfilling the following
specifications:
10.1.1 Memorials shall contain the following:
(i) Index.
(ii) Index of Authorities.
(iii) Statement of Jurisdiction.
(iv) Synopsis of Facts.
(v) Summary of Arguments.
(vi) Body of Arguments.
(vii) Conclusion / Prayer.
10.1.2 The Memorial shall not be more than forty-five (45)
pages, including the Body of Arguments, which shall not be
more than twenty-five (25) pages.
10.1.3 Each team must submit the Memorial for the State and
the Accused in PDF Format.
10.1.4 The cover page of the Memorial must follow the
following colour scheme:Blue: State cover page and Red:
Accused cover page.
10.1.5 The Memorial shall be typed on A4 size page in Font
type: Times New
Roman, Font size: 12, Double Spacing & 1-inch margin on all
sides. Footnotes:Font size 10, no double spacing.
10.1.6 The Memorial must not contain any Annexure/
Photographs / Sketches /Exhibits / Affidavit etc. Violation of
the said provision will subject the team to disqualification.
10.1.7 Memorials not following any of the above specifications
will be penalized.
10.2 Deadline for Submission of Memorials
10.2.1 All teams may send via email, the soft copy of their
memorials, which must be a ‘pdf’ file extension, by 11:59
p.m. IST on 25th November, 2022 on
adhivaktaparishadjharkhand@gmail.com.The subject of the
email must be: Memorial for “Mention Team Code”
10.3 Anonymity
10.3.1 Identity of the team or the names of the participants
must not be revealed in the Memorial in any manner
whatsoever and all teams must send the
Memorial with a separate covering letter specifying the name
and contact details of the Team Members and their designated
Team Code.
10.3.2 Teams disclosing their identity through the Memorials
in any form will be subject to disqualification.
10.3.3 The name of the institution should not appear on any
compendium or submission that needs to be submitted to the
bench. In this case, the team will not be allowed to submit the
compendium or will be subject to negative marking.
11. MARKING CRITERIA FOR THE MEMORIALS
11.1 The Memorials will be judged by a special panel of
Judges.
11.2 The following will be the Marking Criteria and the Marks
Allocated to each category: Sr. No. Marking Criteria Marks
Allocated
1 Depth and Quality of Research----------------- 30
2 Proper and Articulate Analysis & Clarity and
Organization ----------------------------------------20
3 Knowledge and Application of Facts------------15
4 Grammar and Style ------------------------------15
5 Referencing --------------------------------------10
6 Presentation-------------------------------------- 10
Total -------------------------------------------------100
12. ORAL SUBMISSIONS
12.1 The oral rounds shall be conducted by physical mode
12.2 As specified hereinabove in clause 1.1, each team shall
have two speakers who shall divide the oral submissions
between themselves.
12.3 During the course of the Oral Submissions no speaker
shall reveal his/her identity or the identity of his/her
college/university by any means whatsoever.
Thus, all participants must join the session using their team
code and speaker code. In the event any participant reveals
his/ her identity or the identity of his/her college/ university,
the team shall be marked negatively as deemed appropriate
by the judges.
12.4 Each team will have a maximum of 30 minutes to
present their Oral Submissions in Preliminary, 45 minutes in
Semi Final and Final rounds. This would include the time that
each team may want to reserve for their rejoinder/ suppl.-
rejoinder. A suppl.-rejoinder is not a matter of right and can
only be given to the participants at the discretion of the
judge.
12.5 At the commencement of each session of Oral
Submissions each team must notify the Court Officer the
amount of time that the team wants to reserve for their
rejoinder/suppl.-rejoinder. A maximum of 5 minutes can be
reserved for the rejoinder/suppl-rejoinder, which can only be
reserved for any one speaker.
12.6 No speaker will be permitted to address the Court for
more than 20 minutes in Preliminary, and 30 minutes in Semi
Final and Final rounds. This also includes the time reserved for
rejoinder/suppl-rejoinder.
12.7 At the commencement of each session of Oral
Submissions each team shall notify the Court Officer as to the
division of time between the 2 speakers.
12.8 Five (5) minutes and one (1) minute before the
completion of the allocated time for each speaker there will be
a message in the chat box, and at the completion of the
allocated time for each speaker there will be a final message.
12.9 If any speaker continues to speak after the completion of
his/ her time, the additional time which he/ she speaks for will
be deducted from the time allocated to his/ her co- speaker,
or from the time allocated for the rejoinder and suppl-
rejoinder, as the case may be.
12.10 Oral submissions made under the rejoinder/suppl-
rejoinder shall be made by only one speaker.
12.11 Judges, at their discretion, may extend oral argument
time up to a maximum of 10 minutes per team.
12.12 In case of any dispute, the final decision as to the time
structure and the right to rejoinder / supply-rejoinder will be
that of the Bench Judges. (Rejoinder:
Rebuttal).
12.13 All teams will be allowed to share their screen in order
to make reference to any case law and authorities which they
intend to share during the course of their Oral Submissions.
Teams must note that they will not be permitted to share any
material with the judges if such material bears their name or
the name of their College/University.
12.14 During the course of oral submissions, the participants
cannot submit to the court any material containing pictorial
representation whatsoever.
13. OTHER RULES
13.1 The teams must ensure that they do not disclose the
identity of their college at any stage during the competitions.
Any kind of canvassing shall lead to the disqualification of the
teams.
13.2 At the time when one participant is speaking, others are
expected to keep silence.
14. MARKING CRITERIA FOR THE ORAL
SUBMISSIONS
14.1 Each Speaker will be marked on a total of 100 marks by
each Bench Judge.
14.2 The Round Total will be the aggregate of the total of the
two (2) speakers.
14.3 The following will be the Marking Criteria and the Marks
Allocated to compute the Round Total for each team.Sr. No.
Marking Criteria Marks Allocated
1 Knowledge and Application of Relevant Law --------25
2 Interpretation and Use of Facts ----------------------20
3 Ingenuity and Ability to Answer Questions ----------15
4 Style, Poise, Courtesy and Demeanour --------------------15
5 Organization and Flow of Arguments----------------------- 15
6 Reference to Memorials in the course of Arguments-------10
Total----------------------------------------------------------- 100
14.4 The decision of the judges as to the marks allotted to
any team shall be final.
14.5 So as to ensure uniformity in the marking system all the
judges will be provided with a marking guideline.
15. JUDGES
15.1 Preliminary rounds, will be judged by Special panel of
Advocates.
15.2 Semi Finals round and Final round will be judged by
either Senior Advocates or Judges from Jharkhand High Court
depending upon their availability.
16. AWARDS
16.1 The following awards shall be presented:
i) Best Team
ii) 2nd Best Team
iii) Best Speaker
iv) Best Memorial
16.2 All participants will be presented with Certificates of
Participation and all the winners of awards as specified in
Clause 10.1 will be presented with Certificates of Merit and
Trophy.
17. MISCELLANEOUS
17.1 No member of any team or any individual connected with
any team will be permitted to hear the arguments in any court
room in which that team is not one of the contesting teams
whilst that team is still in the competition. The Organizers
shall take strict action, including disqualification from the
competition, against any team found to be scouting through a
team member or through any other means.
17.2 All Participants are expected to maintain decorum in
Court during the rounds of the competition and are expected
to conduct themselves in a manner benefitting the legal
profession.
17.3 The Organizers reserve the right to take appropriate
action for any unethical, unprofessional and immoral conduct.
17.4 The Organizers decision as regards the interpretation of
Rules or any other matter
related to the competition will be final.
17.5 If there is any situation, which is not contemplated in the
Rules, the Organizers decision on the same shall be final.
17.6 The Organizers reserve the right to vary, alter, modify,
or repeal any of the above rules if so required and as they
may deem appropriate.
18. REQUESTS FOR INTERPRETATION OF THE
CASE STUDY AND RULES OF THE COMPETITION:
18.1 All requests for interpretation of the case study and rules
of the competition must be directed to Moot Court Team.
18.2 Such requests for interpretation must be sent via e-mail
to adhivaktaparishadjharkhand@gmail.com and the subject of
the e-mail must read “Request for Interpretation”
18.3 The last date to seek clarifications to the Moot
Proposition is 20th Novemver, 2022.
19. DISCLAIMER
The Material in the moot court problem is not intended to and
does not attempt to resemble any incident or any person
living or dead. All material in the problem is fictitious and any
resemblance to any incident or person, if any, is not intended,
but merely co-incidental.
20. COPYRIGHT
The copyright over the memorials submitted for participation
in the competition is assigned by participants and shall also
vest completely and fully in Adhivakta Parishad,Jharkhand.
The participants shall certify in writing the originality of
materials contained therein and shall be responsible for any
claim or dispute arising out of the further use and exhibition
of these materials. Further use and exhibition of these
materials, electronically or otherwise, shall be the exclusive
right of Adhivakta Parishad and they shall not be responsible
for any liability to any person for any loss caused by errors or
omissions in this collection of information,or for the accuracy,
completeness, or adequacy of the information contained in
these materials.
21. CONTACT DETAILS
Email Address: adhivaktaparishadjharkhand@gmail.com
Contact Persons:
Mr. Mithilesh Kumar Pandey
(7870939178)
MOOT PROBLEM
In the case of:
Mrs. Madhu V. Mr. Vaidya and Others
Mr. Rahul Sen and Mrs. Susmita Sen were married in 2017 and
were residents of Kolkata in the State of West Bengal and they
were working there in a US based Multi National company.
After 3 years of their happy marital life, Mrs. Susmita Sen became
aware that she cannot give birth to a healthy child. She came to
know about this fact by reading medical reports kept secretly by
her husband. As per that report Mr. Rahul suffered from some
serious congenital medical problem that may pass on to their
child.
Then they had quite a big fight in this regard that he never told
her about his health problem either prior to her marriage or
thereafter but kept the information secret. She remained in her
in-laws house under their care, as her husband went for
employment training program to Pune for two months.
After some time Mr. Rahul learnt that his wife, desirous of having
a healthy child, developed an extra marital relationship with her
office colleague, Mr. Vaidya. However, he did not object to the
same.
Mr. Vaidya however, confessed to his wife that he had an illicit
relationship with Mrs.Susmita. Mrs. Madhu, wife of Mr. Vaidya,
furious about the matter, filed a complaint against her husband as
‘main accused,’ Mrs. Susmita Sen as ‘second accused’ and Mr.
Rahul Sen as ‘an abettor’ as he, through his silence and
acquiescence facilitated, rather, to put it bluntly, encouraged Mrs.
Susmita Sen and Mr. Vaidya to indulge in ‘adultery’ thereby
ruining her marital life. She pleaded that she too shall be
recognized as ‘aggrieved person’ as her matrimonial life was
disturbed with these developments.
Meanwhile, an NGO filed a Public Interest Limitation in the
Supreme Court with a plea that Section 497 of Indian Penal Code,
1860 shall be struck down as it violates Articles 14, 15 and 21 of
Indian Constitution on the ground that the relevant section of
Indian Penal Code, 1860 gives ‘immunity only to adulteress but
not to men’ when both are equally guilty. As a matter of principle
of ‘public policy’, gender neutrality shall be observed in criminal
law.
Mrs. Madhu also impleaded herself challenging the constitutional
validity of sec. 497 in the Supreme Court as it violates different
Articles of Indian Constitution. She also submits that such ‘total
immunity cannot be given to Mrs. Susmita, the adulteress.
She submits that S. 198 (2) of Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973
is also unconstitutional for it ‘discriminates on the basis of sex’
which is prohibited under Article 15 (1) of Indian Constitution.
Mrs. Madhu also filed a petition in the Family Court for ‘divorce’
from her husband under The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.
Mr. Rahul also applied for divorce from his wife under The Hindu
Marriage Act, 1955. Mrs. Susmita Sen objected that ‘it is strange
that he, instead of she, filed for divorce when ‘in reality non-
disclosure of his serious health problem has brought forth this
state of affairs’.
The High Court quashed the criminal proceedings against all the
accused persons ‘declaring that Sec. 497 does not violate any of
the provisions of the Indian Constitution.
The Supreme Court, after hearing preliminary arguments,
admitted and clubbed all the SLPs for final disposal.
The matter to be heard by the Supreme Court of India..
Students shall prepare memorials/arguments for both
Petitioner and Respondent.
Students may frame their own issues
