4th National Virtual Moot Court Competition by Thomas George and Associates: Register by Nov 15

About Thomas George and Associate

Thomas George and Associates started as a sole proprietorship by its Managing and Founding Partner Mr. Thomas George in 1998 and has slowly grown into a law firm with its office in Hyderabad. The firm primarily takes care of litigation matters and non-litigation matters. The firm’s practice areas include Company law, Commercial law, Family law, Land laws, Banking laws, Criminal laws, White collar crimes, CBI matters, Negotiable Instrument law, Consumer laws, Constitutional law, Contract law, Arbitration, IPR, etc.

About the Opportunity

• Indigo is a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic, and republican country that operates under a federal system with 28 states and 9 Union territories. The President serves as the head of the Nation, while the Prime Minister is the head of the Council of Ministers to aid the President. The country follows a parliamentary form of government with two houses, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. Here the elections are contested once in 5 years for Lok Sabha and 6 years for Rajya Sabha and to ensure free fair election there is an Independent Election Commission that ensure free and fair elections at the right intervals in the whole nation.
• Those who are elected directly or indirectly to either house of Parliament are commonly referred to as Members of Parliament (MPs). In the Lok Sabha, the members are directly elected by citizens, while in the Rajya Sabha, the members are elected indirectly
• In Indigo, states have their own government and the head of the State is the Governor. The Chief Minister is the head of the Council of Ministers for the State, to aid the Governor. In the state, the power is shared among the central and state governments. Some state legislatures are bicameral and some are unicameral. The two houses of a state legislature are known as the Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council.
• Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) are directly elected and members of the Legislative Council are elected indirectly.
• After certain politicians tried to change their parties after coming to power, through the 52nd Amendment to the Constitution, the Anti-Defection law was introduced. The said law has undergone changes and amendments with the passage of time.
• After elections on various dates, the politicians after being elected tried to create a split in the political parties as well as to merge their political parties so as to wriggle out of the rigors of the Anti-Defection law.
• Due to the misuse of the loopholes in the Anti-Defection law, a public-spirited NGO named “Janseva” filed a Writ Petition before the Honourable Supreme Court challenging the constitutional validity of the anti-defection law.
• Drafted by Ms. Anushka Bahuguna (III B. A. LL. B., New Law College, Bharatiya Vidyapeeth deemed to be Private University, Pune), Ms. Smriti Dubey (IV B. A. LL. B., Vivekananda Institute of Professional Studies, GGSIPU) and Mr. Rohit Soni (IV B.A. LL.B., Keshav Memorial College of Law)

Note:

• The laws of Indigo are pari materia to the laws, rules, and regulations enacted from time to time by India.
• The issues should be limited to only the constitutional validity of the loopholes in the Anti-Defection Law
• The Petitioner will be Janseva and the Respondent will be the Union of Indigo.
• The matter is coming up for a final hearing
• Students are to frame a maximum of 4 issues and not beyond the same.

Eligibility

Students of all years of the Five-year and Three year law courses are eligible to participate in this Competition.

Rules for the Competition

• Two students from a law college are eligible to form a team for the purpose of participating in this competition. One college can send a maximum of 2 teams.
• The Team shall not comprise a researcher, thus, meaning both the team members are speakers.
• 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 X Law College, Hyderabad 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.
• Registration Fees for each team- Rs.500/-. The said amount can be paid via Google Pay on +91 9391043655. In case the students want to pay the fees to a bank account, an email requesting bank details to be sent.
• It is 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 in case the college does not have any such society.
• A mail with the team code agreeing to participate in the said competition shall be sent by the participants on or before 15/11/2023 after paying the registration fees. The said email must provide the postal addresses with pin codes of both team members, mobile numbers of both team members, a Scanned Copy of the College ID Card of both team members, and a Screenshot of the proof of payment of registration fees.
• For all further correspondences, the teams shall communicate using the email ID used for sending the confirmation email and no communication from new Email IDs will be entertained.
• Each speaker shall speak for 15 minutes subject to extension granted by the judges.
• The meeting links for the competition and rounds will be sent to the email IDs from which the soft copies of the memorials are sent.
• The competition will be held on 09/12/2023 & 10/12/2023. A short Inauguration ceremony shall take place on 09/12/2023 which shall be attended by all participants without fail.
• A steady internet connection is to be maintained.
• Cameras are to be turned on at all times during the rounds.
• Compendiums to be sent online only by 07/12/2023 on or before 5 pm
• Breach of deadlines shall entail disqualification.
• In case during the rounds, if there is any internet interruption from the side of the participant, then, a 5-minute extension only will be granted, subject to the discretion of the judge.
• Feedback after each round shall be provided.
• All clarifications sought are to be sent on or before 24/11/2023.
• Dress Code for Men: White Shirt, Black or Grey Blazer, Black or Grey formal pants. Dress Code for Women: White Salwar Kameez with a dupatta or White Shirt, Black or Grey Blazer, Black or Grey formal pants or skirt.
• Failure to follow the dress code shall entail disqualification subject to the discretion of the Judge.
• The Moot Court Coordinator is Mr. Rohit Soni who can be contacted during working hours i.e., 4:00 PM – 10:00 PM at +91 9391043655. However, all queries are to be sent via email only and not WhatsApp/text.
• All email correspondences are to be sent to tgacompetitions@gmail.com

Memorial Rules

• Each team is to prepare Written Memorials for the side of the Petitioners and the side of the Respondent
• Blue Colour Cover Page for the Written Memorial of the Petitioners.
• Red Colour Cover Page for the Written Memorial of the Respondent.
• Soft Copies of the Memorials to be sent by 01/12/2023, on or before 5 p.m.
• Memorials shall not exceed 6 A4 size pages of MS Word docx. However, the index, index of authorities, facts of the case, issues framed, and prayer shall not be included while arriving at 6 pages.
• 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.
• Footnotes: Font size- 10, Font Style- Bookman Old Style, Line Spacing- 1
• Memorials will be exchanged between the respective teams on 08/12/2023 at 05:00 PM.

Prizes

• Best team- Rs.15,000/-
• Runners up- Rs.10,000/-
• Best Memorial – Rs.5,000/-
• Best Speaker in Prelims- Rs.5,000/-
• Certificates of merit and Trophies to all the winners
• Certificates of participation for all participants including winners.
• Books to the winners sponsored by Gogia Law Agency, Hyderabad.

Important Dates

Registration Procedure

• The Moot Court Coordinator is Mr. Rohit Soni who can be contacted during working hours i.e., 4:00 PM – 10:00 PM at +91 9391043655. However, all queries are to be sent via email only and not WhatsApp/text.
• All email correspondences are to be sent to tgacompetitions@gmail.com

The official notification is here.