LATE DR. L. H.

HIRANANDANI MEMORIAL NATIONAL LEVEL MOOT COURT COMPETITION, 2024

MOOT PROPOSITION

1. Mr. Sayyam Sukham is a third generation lawyer and has assisted with the drafting of several

legislations pertaining to women and children. Mr. [---] is known for his integrity, industry and

independence and is being considered for judgeship of the High Court.

2. Four years ago, Mr. Sukham represented a victim of communal riots against the State. He argued

fearlessly and was able to obtain an order of compensation for the victim that was unprecedented.

The case received a lot of media coverage and left the government deeply embarrassed. It also went

on to become a landmark case and has been referred to and relied upon in several subsequent

judgments.

3. Mr. Sukham is married to Mrs. Anjali Sukham and they have a foster daughter, Kehekashan.

4. Mr. Sukham was abducted by a group of 4(four) unidentified men while he was on his morning

walk. The unidentified men assured him that they would not cause him any harm and release him

within 12 hours. During this time, Mr. Sukham was made unconscious for the most part and has no

recollection of what transpired for a few hours even after regaining consciousness.

5. He was released within 12 hours of being abducted and had not been mistreated or manhandled

during this time. There were no physical signs of coercion or struggle on his body.

6. 7 days later, all the newspapers were carrying the headlines that as per the narco analysis test and

brain mapping test conducted on Mr. Sukham, it had been found that Kehekashan was not the foster

daughter but in fact, the biological daughter of Mr. Sukham born outside of wedlock.

7. Mr. Sukham was called in chambers by the Chief Justice of the High Court to discuss the matter and

the effect it was likely to have on his elevation as Judge of the High Court. The Chief Justice

suggested that Mr. Sukham undergo a DNA test to fully and finally put the controversy to rest

considering the accuracy of DNA tests as compared to narco analysis and brain mapping.

8. Mrs. Sukham and Kehekashan were approached by the media for their comments but have made no
public statement on the same.

9. Mr. Sukham has filed defamation proceedings against two prominent newspaper publications that

carried the headlines of his foster daughter being his biological daughter. The newspaper agencies

have in their defence stated that the articles published by them are not defamatory and are based on

evidence procured by narco analysis and brain mapping and are hence, true. Mr. Sukham has also

stated in Court that the newspaper publications receive significant funding from the Government and

this is nothing but an attempt to tarnish his reputation and prevent him from becoming a judge.

QUESTIONS INVOLVED

1. Whether results of narco analysis and brain mapping tests can be considered scientifically

accurate and relied upon?

2. Whether a person can be coerced or duped into undergoing narco analysis and brain mapping

tets?

3. Whether the Court can compel Mr. Sukham. (a party) and Kehekashan (non party) to the

proceeding to undergo DNA testing to ascertain paternity?

4. Whether the Court can direct ascertainment of paternity on the request of a third party?

5. Can the Court draw an adverse inference if Mr. X refuses to undergo DNA testing?

6. Should prospective judges be required to make full and true disclosures of their biological,

adopted and/or foster children?

Note for Participants –

i. The laws are in pari materia with the laws of India .

ii. No laws that come into effect or orders or judgments that are given post 10th February, 2024

may be referred to or relied upon in the memorial or at the time of arguments.

iii. Participants may address the bench on additional grounds, if time permits.
Rules & Regulation of Late Dr. L. H. Hiranandani Memorial National Level Moot Court

Competition

I. DEFINITIONS

The following terms shall have the corresponding meanings unless otherwise provided.

1.1 „Competition‟ shall refer to the Late Dr. L. H. Hiranandani Memorial National Level Moot

Court Competition, 2024.

1.2 „Competition Problem‟ shall refer to the compendium of facts and issues released by the

organizers of the Competition with its clarifications and corrections.

1.3 „Competition Rules‟ shall refer to the official rules of the Competition as amended from time to

time.

1.4 The Preliminary Round shall be based on Merit, the Semi – Final shall be based on “Knock-out

round” & the Final Round of Moot Court Competition shall be based on “Merit”.

1.5 “Memorial” shall refer to the memorandum of written submissions submitted by any

participating team as per the Competition Rules.

1.6. Official Email shall refer to the official email id of the Law Fest i.e.

legiscentrumkclc@[Link]

II. GENERAL RULES

1. Eligibility

1.1 Students pursuing their Bachelor‟s degree in the current academic year i.e. 2023-24 in a three-

year course or five years course in law from any recognized School/ College/ University in India

are eligible to participate in the competition.

1.2 Each participating team shall comprise of three members wherein two (2) Members, shall be
designated as Speakers and one (1) member as Researcher. No change in the names of participants

shall be permitted after the last date of registration, except at the sole discretion of the organizers.

1.3 No team shall contradict the composition mentioned above. No faculty member, coach, or a

designated observer will be allowed to accompany the team.

2. Clarifications regarding the Moot Problem

2.1 Teams may request for clarifications via e-mail to legiscentrumkclc@[Link] latest by 31st

January 2024 till 23:59 hours.

2.2 All responses to clarifications will be sent via email to the registered Email IDs of the teams by

2 nd February 2024 till 23:59 hours.

3. Dress Code

3.1 Western formals (white shirt, black trousers, black tie, black blazer, and black shoes for

gentlemen); and Western (White shirt, black trousers, black blazer, and black shoes) or Indian

(Punjabi dress – white kurta and white/black churidar/salwar with or without dupatta [white or

black] and black shoes) formals for ladies.

4. Language

4.1 The Competition shall be held in the English language ONLY.

5. Memorandum

5.1 Each team participating in the Competition must prepare a memorandum on behalf of the

Petitioner and on the behalf of the Respondent.

5.1.1. Each team shall at the time of submission, must submit a soft copy in Portable Document

Format (.PDF extension) and in Word format (.DOC extension) via email to

legiscentrumkclc@[Link] on or before 12 th February 2024, 23:59 hours with subject line

stating “Memorials for Team (Mention College Code)”.

5.1.2. Participants may also create and provide Case Compendiums; however, they must get extra
copies for the judges by themselves.

5.2. Any memorial submitted after the deadline shall be subject to penalty for late submission.

5.3. The participating teams shall be allotted a “Team Code” after the registration. Teams shall not

reveal identity in any form, except the Team Code allotted to them during the Competition. Names

of participants or name of College of the teams concerned must not appear on or within the

Memorial.

5.4. The Memorial must contain the following parts only:

5.4.1. Cover Page;

5.4.2. Table of Contents;

5.4.3. List of Abbreviations;

5.4.4. Index of Authorities;

5.4.5. Statement of Jurisdiction;

5.4.6. Statement of Facts;

5.4.7. Questions Presented;

5.4.8. Summary of Pleadings;

5.4.9. Written Submission/Arguments Advanced/Pleadings

5.4.10. Prayer

5.5. Content Specification

Cover Page - The front cover of each Memorial must have the following information: The Team

Code on the upper right-hand corner followed by “P” for Memorial on behalf of the Petitioner and

“R” for Memorandum on behalf of the Respondent (e.g., Team allotted code number 23 shall write

“TCP23” on the top right hand corner of the front cover of its Memorial for the Petitioner and

“TCR23” of the Memorial for the Respondent); The name of the court; The year of the Competition

(the year during which the relevant Round takes place, for instance, National Level Moot Court

Competition, 2024); The name of the case; and the title of the document (i.e., “Memorandum on
behalf of the Petitioner” or Memorandum on behalf of the Respondent”)

5.5.1. Index of Authorities

 The Index of Authorities must list all legal authorities cited in any part of the Memorial and

must indicate the page number(s) of the Memorial on which each authority is cited.

5.5.2. Citation

Footnotes must be used to identify the source of statements or propositions made in the pleadings

of the Memorial. Endnotes are not permitted. The use of footnotes must be restricted to pleadings

only. Font size should be restricted to 10, Times New Roman, with single spacing.

5.5.3. Length

The total length of the Memorial including the Statement of Jurisdiction, Statement of Facts,

Questions Presented, Summary of Arguments, Written Submission and Prayer must not exceed 30

pages.

5.5.4. Presentation of Memorial

The following colour schemes shall be followed for marking of the separate cover pages containing

the Memorial: Petitioner- BLUE and Respondent – RED.

Scoring of the Memorandum

5.5.5. Scoring of the Memorandum

Sr. No. Marking Criteria Marks allocated

1. Knowledge of Law & Extent of Research 20

2. Application and appreciation of facts 10

3. Evidence of Original Thought 10

4. Grammar & Style 20

5. Correct Format & Citation 20

6. Proper and Articulate Analysis, Clarity and organization 20

5.5.6 Formatting Specifications

The Memorials shall be formatted according to the following specifications:

i. Typed on standard A4 size page

ii. Font type: Times New Roman

iii. Font size for body text: 12; the text of the written submission must have one and a half spacing

iv. Font size for footnotes: 10; text of footnotes may be single-spaced however two separate

footnotes must be double spaced

v. Margin: 1 inch margin on each side of the A4 size page

vi. Quotations of sources outside of the memorial of fifty words or more in any part of the

memorial shall be block quoted and must be in italics.

vii. The footnotes must follow the Bluebook format of citation.

6. Procedure of Oral Rounds

6.1. Oral presentations during the round must be made by two (2) members. Each Team must

indicate to the bailiff how it wishes to allocate it‟s given time for each round among (a) its first

speaker, (b) its second speaker.

6.2. Time allocated for but not used by one speaker may not be used by another speaker, or in the

rebuttal or sur-rebuttal.

6.3. Scope of Pleadings

 A team's oral pleadings are not in any way limited to the scope of the Team's Memorial.

The scope of the Petitioner‟s rebuttal is limited to responding to the Respondent's primary

oral pleadings, and the scope of the Respondent's sur-rebuttal is limited to responding to the

Petitioner‟s rebuttal. If the Petitioner waive off its right to rebut, Respondent may not
appear for sur-rebuttal.

Marking Criteria for Speakers

The criterion for scoring of the Speakers has been given herein below:

1. Knowledge of pertinent Laws 20

2. Application of Laws 20

3. Proficiency and adeptness in answering questions 20

4. Style, Poise, Courtesy and Demeanor 10

5. Use of relevant Case Laws 10

6. Reference to Memorials 10

7. Organization and flow of Arguments 10

Total 100

6.4. Scouting

 Team members or persons directly affiliated with any Team may only attend preliminary

rounds in which their team is competing. Violation of this rule should be brought to the

attention of the court room officers immediately, without disturbing the oral round, or

immediately after the oral round has finished. A team which commits scouting in any form

shall be disqualified from the competition.

III. STRUCTURE OF THE COMPETITION

The Competition shall consist of the following:

1. Researcher‟s Test*

2. The Preliminary Rounds;

3. The Semi Final Round; and

4. The Final Round

1. Researcher‟s Test
The Researcher‟s Test will be conducted via Multiple Choice Questions and shall be held on the

day of the Competition, i.e. Saturday 24th February 2024. Note: The side on which the team will be

arguing will be decided by a draw of lots, with the teams picking the lots. The teams will be

provided with a hard copy of the memorandum of their opponent‟s Written Submission prior to the

oral rounds.

2. Preliminary Rounds

2.1. In the preliminary rounds, each team shall argue only once either as the Petitioner or

Respondent. The draw of lots for determining the Opponent teams shall be conducted after

registration. No team shall be provided any information regarding the identity of their opponent

teams or any other team under any circumstances.

2.2. The time limit for Preliminary round shall be Fifteen (15) minutes for each team. This shall

include the submission of both the student counsels from the team. Each student counsel shall argue

for a minimum five (5) minutes for their oral submission.

2.3. The team appearing from the Petitioner will be given two (2) minutes for rebuttal after the

Respondent team completes their arguments and rebuttals. One speaker from each team will be

permitted to rebut.

2.4. The team appearing from the side of the Respondent will have to rebut during their arguments.

They will be given two (2) minutes in addition to the allotted fifteen (15) minutes for their oral

submission. Each student counsel shall argue for a minimum five (5) minutes for their oral

submission.

3. Semi-Final Round

3.1. The time limit for Semi-Final Round shall be twenty five (25) minutes for each team. This

shall include the submission of both the student counsels from the team. Each student counsel shall

argue for a minimum thirteen (10) minutes for their oral submissions.
3.2. The team appearing from the Petitioner will be given five (5) minutes for rebuttal after the

Respondent team completes their arguments and rebuttals. One speaker from each team will be

permitted to rebut.

3.3. The team appearing from the side of the Respondent will have to rebut during their arguments.

They will be given five (5) minutes in addition to the allotted twenty five (25) minutes for their oral

submission.

4. Final Round

4.1. The time limit for the Final Round shall be thirty (30) minutes for each team. This shall include

the submission of both the student counsels from the team. Each student counsel shall include the

submission of both the student counsels from the team. Each student counsel shall argue for a

minimum ten (10) minutes.

IV. ADVANCEMENT OF ORAL ROUNDS

The advancement of oral rounds shall be as follows:

1. Teams with the higher cumulative points from the Preliminary Rounds shall be ranked higher.

2. If two or more teams have the same cumulative points then the team with the higher cumulative

memorial score. i.e. the score of the memorial shall be ranked higher.

3. The ranks/marks are not to be disclosed to the teams until the Final Rounds are concluded.

4. The Semi – Final: The four teams shall have to argue the case only from one side and shall be

assigned sides by draw of lots. Two teams will be qualifying for the finals on the Knock – Out

basis.

4. The Final: The two teams shall be assigned side by draw of lots. The team which scores higher

marks in the final round, shall be declared as winner. The other team shall be declared as the

Runner-Up.

V. SUBMISSION OF MEMORIALS
1. Each team shall at the time of submission, must submit a soft copy in Portable Document Format

(.PDF extension) and in Word format (.DOC extension) via email to legiscentrumkclc@[Link]

on or before 10th February 2024, 23:59 hours with subject line stating “Memorials for Team

(Mention College Code)”.

2. Teams must further submit 4 hard copies of the Memorial (in respect of the Petitioner and

Respondent) on or before 15th February 2024, 17:00 hours to the address mentioned below.

3. Participants must carry a minimum of 2 copies of Memorials (in respect of Petitioner and

Respondent) for the Judges on the day of the Moot Court Competition.

VI. EXCHANGE OF MEMORIALS

1. Prior to each round, the organizers will arrange for the exchange of the memorials via Email.

2. The teams are prohibited from making any marks on the exchanged memorials.

VII. MISCELLANEOUS

1. The College reserves the right to amend, modify, change or repeal any of the competition rules at

any stage. The College shall communicate any changes made in the competition rules to the

Participating Teams.

2. In case of any doubt in either understanding any of the details or interpreting them, the decision

taken by the organizers shall be final and binding.

3. Drawing of lots for the Preliminary Round shall take place on 24th February 2024.

4. Rules should be strictly adhered to. Any deviation thereof can attract penalties and may be even

disqualified.

5. Organizers shall reserve unanticipated or unexpected contingencies, if any, and the decision in

this regard shall be final.

IMPORTANT DATES

1. 12 th February, 2024 (on or before 23.59 hours): Last date for e-mailing soft of the Memorial to
College email.

2. 16 th February 2024: for hard copies of memorials.

3. 23rd February 2024: Inauguration of “Legis Centrum - National Level Law Fest.

4. 23rd February 2024: Students Orientation, Drawing of Lots and Exchange of Memorials

5. 23rd February, 2024: Preliminary Round of the Competition

6. 24 th February 2024: Semi Final Round of the Competition

7. 24 th February 2024: Final Round of the Competition Contact Persons:

Faculty Co-ordinator: Ms. Sandhya Balakrishnan & Ms. Megna Devkar

Student Coordinator – Mr. Anurag Patwardhan - 0982014858

Student Coordinator – Mr. Omar Shah - 09920831145

Student Coordinator – Ms. Nikita Waghela - 09833844389

Disclaimer: The moot court problem is based on purely fictitious facts, whereby the characters and

the incidents or the course of event in the moot problem are completely imaginary and the same has

no relation to any living or dead past/present real life incidents.

The Moot Court problem is made solely for the purpose to train the students of law.

PLEASE NOTE:

The College reserves the right to amend, modify, change or repeal any of the competition rules at

any stage. The College shall communicate any changes made in the competition rules to the

Participating Teams.