5th National Moot Court Competition, 2020
The Moot Court Association (MCA) is a dedicated organization, constituted to incubate and enhance advocacy skills amongst the learners. It conducts various internal Moot Court Competitions through its faculty-cum-student’s body and thereby enables students to participate in external Moot Court Competitions organized Nationally and Internationally.
Keeping in line with its goal of promulgating the mooting culture, the National Moot Court Competition, which is the flagship event of the association is held annually with great pomp and show attracting participation from all corners of the country. This is one of those mega-events that the entire law school looks forward to every year. But due to the ongoing pandemic, the same could not have been held on campus this year. This year, the Moot Court Association of Symbiosis Law School, Hyderabad, held the 5th National Moot Court Competition online since even a global pandemic could not come in the way of hosting this mega-event!
The three-day online event was held from the 8th to 10th of January, 2021, and began with an inaugural ceremony on 8th January which was graced with the presence of Hon’ble Mr. Justice K. G. Balakrishnan and Dr. Adish C Aggarwala who addressed the participants about the importance of law and growing role of lawyers in the development of a society. The inauguration concluded with the chief guests declaring the virtual courts officially open. The Preliminary and Quarter-Final rounds were held on 9th January whereas the Semi-Final and Final rounds were held on 10th January.
Out of the 37 teams that registered for the Competition, 20 were selected after the Memorial Selection Round. The Preliminary Round of the competition was followed by the elimination of 12 Teams. The top 8 teams moved to the Quarters Rounds, followed by the top 4 teams in the Semi-Finals. Finally, the top two teams went head-to-head in the Final Rounds which were judged by Justice Arindram Mukherjee, Prof. (Dr) M V Shiju, Mr. Sampath Balusu, Mr. Supratim Chakraborty, and Mr. M. S. Bharath.
The Valedictory Ceremony was presided by Justice Arindram Mukherjee, Prof. (Dr) M V Shiju, Mr. Sampath Balusu, Mr. Supratim Chakraborty, and Mr. M. S. Bharath, who shared their erudite views with the august gathering. The Ceremony concluded with the declaration of winners, the winning trophy was bagged by Symbiosis Law School, Noida, who would receive a cash prize of Rs 50,000/-. The Runners up were from Maharashtra National Law University, Nagpur, who would receive a cash prize of Rs. 30,000. The award for the Best Speaker was awarded to Mr. Aurin Chakraborty of Symbiosis Law School, Noida, who would be awarded a cash prize of Rs. 10,000/-. The Award for the Best Memorial was awarded to the Indore Institute of Law who would be awarded a cash prize of Rs. 10,000/-.
And last but not the least, highly noteworthy was the alumni engagement during the event. Creating an engaged, supportive alumni network is crucial to an institution’s success. Good alumni relationships bring many benefits to both the institution and the alumni. The Moot Court Association sternly believes in the wise words that alumni engagement is one of the many crucial things in an institute and never leaves a stone unturned to put these values into execution. On these lines, the event witnessed an exceptional alumni engagement in the form of judges for the preliminary rounds who were as brilliant and virtuoso as the other distinguished personalities.
