NATIONAL MOOT COURT COMPETITION

15th -17th, Oct. 2020

10th EDITION
(VIRTUAL COMPETITION)

Army Institute of Law

Sector 68, Mohali.
Ph.: 0172-5095336-338 Fax: 0172-5039280
Website: www.ail.ac.in E-mail: [email protected]
 INVITATION
CHECKMATE-2020
(Virtual Rounds: 15th-17th Oct 2020)

The Army Institute of Law, as a part of its endeavors of providing and facilitating its
support to the student community of the Country, takes immense pleasure in
announcing the 10th Edition of its National Moot Court Competition, "Checkmate
2020". This year the rounds are to be held via Virtual mode from 15th-17th Oct. 2020.

The previous editions of the Checkmate National Moot Court Competition have proved
to be an enriching experience for the participants, especially in the field of Criminal
Law owing to its unconventional and challenging moot propositions and high standards
of judging. The discipline and transparency with which this competition is conducted
have contributed immensely to its previous successful chapters leading to increased
participation every year since its inception.

The current Covid-19 situation poses a serious public health risk, disrupting our
everyday daily routines. We need to prepare ourselves by adopting simple methods like
social distancing to keep going on at this time. Moreover, therefore, to keep the spirit
of mooting and learning, we announce Checkmate-National Moot Court Competition-
2020, the 10th Edition via virtual mode.

The registration form, rules, and the moot problem have been attached herewith. We
look forward to receiving a positive response from your Institution. Kindly confirm
your participation via provisional registration by Sept.18th, 2020.

In case of any queries regarding the competition, you may write to us at [email protected]

Warm Regards
Moot Court Society
Army Institute of Law
E-mail: [email protected]

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 SCHEDULE
CHECKMATE-2020

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1. Deadline for provisional registration: Sept. 18 , 2020.

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2. Deadline for submission of the registration form and the fee: Sept. 23 , 2020

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3. Deadline for seeking clarifications to the proposition: Sept. 25 , 2020

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4. Release of clarifications: Sept. 28 , 2020

5. Deadline for submission

 Soft copy of the memorial: Oct. 5th, 2020

 Pre-recorded Videos: Oct. 5th, 2020

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6. Declaration of the result of the preliminary round on or before: Oct. 9 , 2020

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7. Rounds (via video conferencing): Oct. 15 -17 , 2020

 Quarterfinals and declaration of result: Oct. 15th, 2020

 Semi-finals and declaration of result: Oct. 16th, 2020
 Final Round and Declaration of the result: Oct. 17th, 2020

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 RULES
CHECKMATE-2020

1. GENERAL
DATES:

The Checkmate 2020 - Army Institute of Law National Moot Court Competition will be
held via video conferencing from Oct. 15th-17th, 2020.
2. TEAM PRE-REQUISITES
a. Only one team from each participating college shall be registered for the competition. Each
team shall comprise of either three members (two Speakers and one Researcher) or two
members (two Speakers) only.
 Note- No faculty member, coach, observer, or a designated observer or fourth
member is allowed to accompany the team, and neither will be allowed to join
the video-conferencing nor the chat room during the session.
b. The language for the Competition shall be English only.
c. Participation is restricted to bonafide law students either enrolled in the 3-year LL.B course
or the 5-year integrated law course.
d. The oral rounds shall comprise of:
 Preliminary Rounds (pre-recorded video)
 Quarter-Final Rounds (via video conferencing)
 Semi-Final Rounds (via video conferencing)
 Final Round (via video conferencing)
3. REGISTRATION
a. The teams should provisionally register through by sending an e-mail to
[email protected] (with subject Moot Court Registration Checkmate 2020) by Sept. 18th,
2020.
b. Only 32 teams will be registered to participate in the competition on first-come-first serve
basis.

c. Once the provisional registration is confirmed, Registration Fee: Rs 2000/- for each
participating team, is to be submitted by Sept. 23rd, 2020, through online transaction
either by clicking on the link
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 https://www.onlinesbi.com/sbicollect/icollecthome.htm?corpID=593474 or by online
transfer to the following Bank details as NEFT are:

Account Holder Name: Army Institute of Law (Main Account)

Bank Name : SBI
Branch Name : SBI Chandimandir
Account Number : 65230658237
IFSC Code : SBIN0050195
d. The scanned copy of the receipt (of payment of Rs. 2000/- paid using online mode) along
with the duly filled registration form should be sent on or before Sept. 23rd, 2020, via e-
mail to [email protected], with the following details

 Details of Payment of Registration Fee:

 Transaction ID: Bank: Date of payment:

 Teams are required to send the scanned copy of their Institute's Id card with
this form.
e. No change in the names of the participants shall be permitted unless the same has been
communicated to the organizers a week before the event in exceptional circumstances only
after the participating college has attached the due proof.
4. DRESS CODE

The dress code for the oral rounds shall be advocate's attire, i.e., Black and White
combination, including Blazer and Formal Shoes. The participants are to dress up formally
for the rounds.
5. MEMORIALS

a. The following requirements for memorials must be strictly followed. Non- conformities
will be penalized:
b. Each team must prepare memorials for both parties to the dispute.
c. Once the memorials have been submitted, no revision, supplements, or additions will be
allowed.
d. Each team must send its Memorial via e-mail to [email protected] by Oct. 5th, 2020, by 11:59
P.M.
e. Please note that NO HARD COPIES ARE TO BE SUBMITTED.
f. The Cover Page of the memorials for the Prosecution shall be in Blue, and the Defence
shall be in Red.

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g. Late submissions will result in a 1-point penalty per team per day per side.
h. The written memorials shall conform to the standards mentioned below:
 Written submissions shall be on white A4 size.

 The font and size of the text used in all parts of the written submissions (except the
covers) shall be in Times New Roman, 12-point and footnotes shall be in Times
New Roman, size 10.

 The text in all parts of each written submission shall have 1.5-line spacing except
the text of footnotes and headings, which shall be single-spaced.

 The arguments with appropriate citations shall be contained in the pleadings. The
teams shall follow the 20th Edition of the Bluebook mode of citation.

 The Written Submission/memorial should not exceed the maximum limit of 35

Pages (excluding Cover Page and Table of Contents). The Pleadings (Arguments
Advanced) shall not exceed 20 pages.

 Memorials must have a one-inch margin on all sides of each page.

The memorials must contain:

 Cover Page
 Table of Contents
 Index of Authorities
 Statement of Jurisdiction
 Statement of Facts (Argumentative statement of facts would attract penalties)
 Questions of Law
 Summary of Arguments
 Arguments Advanced
 Prayer
 Appendix (Optional)
 Exhibits (Optional)

The cover page of the memorials must state the following:

 The Case Title

 Identity of brief as Prosecution or Defence

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 Marking Criteria for Memorials
 Knowledge of facts and law (20)
 Proper and articulate analysis (20)
 Extent and use of research (20)
 Clarity and Organization (20)
 Citation of sources (10)
 Grammar and Style (10)

NOTE: The identity of the Institution or the members shall not be revealed anywhere in
the memorial. Violation of this provision shall result in disqualification. The decision of the
organizers will be final.
6. COMPENDIUM
 A combined compendium has to be submitted to the organizing committee via e-mail to
[email protected] by Oct. 13th, 2020, by 11:59 P.M, in the form of a single PDF document
(.pdf format) for both Prosecution and Defence. The document must be numbered, with a
proper demarcation between the Prosecution and Defence compendium.
7. ROUNDS

There will be Preliminary Rounds, Quarter Final, Semi Final and ultimately the Final.

PRELIMINARY ROUND
 Preliminary rounds, participants will have to send their pre-recorded videos of both the
sides- Prosecution and Defence to the official e-mail ID [email protected].
 Each speaker shall be allowed a maximum of 15 minutes to present their pleadings
from each side.
 Teams shall send their files named "TC-X Speaker-1(Prosecution)" & "TC-X Speaker-
2(Prosecution)" and "TC-X Speaker-1(Defence)" & "TC-X Speaker-2(Defence)" (TC-
X is the team code).
 The teams shall send the recorded pleadings on behalf of both the Prosecution and the
Defence.
 The last date of submission of the pre-recorded video is Oct.5th 2020.
 Speaker 1 and Speaker 2 remain the same throughout the competition.
 The video should be recorded at once; no editing (cut-mix of two slides) should be
done.
 It should be recorded in proper formal uniform.
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 The results of the preliminary rounds will be intimated through e-mail on or before
Oct. 9th, 2020.

 Based on the combined score of the memorial as well as pre-recorded videos send for
the preliminary rounds, the top eight teams will qualify for the Quarterfinal rounds.

 In case of a tie in marks, the team with more marks in the memo submission will
qualify for the quarterfinals.

 The meeting Id & password and timings of the next rounds will be informed to the
qualifying teams through e-mail/WhatsApp.

QUARTER-FINAL ROUND
 The Quarterfinal Rounds shall take place on Oct. 15th, 2020.

 It shall be conducted through video-conferencing, via Zoom/or any other online

platform.

 The meeting Id & password and timings of the rounds will be informed after the
preliminary rounds to the qualifying teams through e-mail/WhatsApp.

 The Quarter-final round of competition will consist of 30 minutes for oral pleadings.

 Each team shall strictly get a total time of 30 minutes to argue subject to a minimum of
12 minutes per speaker. The said 30 minutes should include a maximum of 3 minutes
for the Rebuttals.

 At the beginning of the round, the teams shall specify the time distribution for each
speaker and rebuttal to the moderator.

 Only after being allowed by the moderator a speaker shall unmute his mic and
speak.

 The rebuttal round proceeding shall be initiated once the moderator informs the team
about the commencement of the time limit. Only after being allowed by the moderator,
a speaker shall unmute his mic.

 This round will be the knock-out round, and four teams will qualify for the semi-final
round.

 The winning team of each round shall proceed to the Semi-Finals. In case of a tie, the
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 team with a higher score in Written Submission shall qualify.

 The meeting Id & password and timings will be informed to the qualifying teams
through e-mail/WhatsApp.

SEMI-FINAL ROUND

 The Semi-final round would be conducted on Oct. 16th, 2020, via video-
conferencing/an online platform which will be intimated to the participants.
 Each team shall get a total time of 40 minutes to argue subject to a minimum of 15
minutes per speaker. The said 40 minutes should include a maximum of 4 minutes for
the Rebuttals.
 The meeting Id & password will be given to the qualifying tams via e-mail/ WhatsApp

FINAL ROUND

 The final round would be conducted on Oct. 17th, 2020, via video-conferencing/ online
platform, which will be intimated to the participants.
 Each team shall get a total time of 45 minutes to argue subject to a minimum of 18
minutes per speaker. The said 45 minutes should include a maximum of 4 minutes for
the Rebuttals.

8. AWARDS

 Best Team Rupees 15,000/- along with E-certificate

 Runners Up Rupees 10,000/- along with E-certificate

 Best Memorial Rupees 7,000/- along with E-certificate

 Best Speaker Rupees 5,000/- along with E-certificate

 2nd Best Speaker Rupees 3,000/- along with E-certificate

 Best Pre-Recorded Video Rupees 5,000/- along with E-certificate

NOTE: All the Participants will get participation certificates. E-Certificates shall be mailed
to the teams within fifteen days from the event.
9. ANONYMITY
a. Student Council may introduce him/herself to the court in the usual manner and may also
state their names. However, the team's college affiliation shall not be indicated to the
judges at any time.
b. Further, all team members shall refrain from identifying a team's college at any time and in
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 any manner, including, but not limited to, wearing any identifying items (such as college
clothing, ties, badges, patches, or pins) or carrying/showing material (such as books with a
college logo or college seal, among others).
10. GENERAL ETIQUETTE
a. The participants are expected to behave in a dignified manner and not cause any
unnecessary inconvenience to the organizers. Deference to the Judges of the Moot Court
Competition is expected to be maintained in the virtual Courtroom.
b. The Organizers reserve the right to take appropriate action for any unethical,
unprofessional, or immoral conduct.
11. MARKING CRITERIA FOR ORAL ROUNDS
a. Knowledge of the law and its application to facts (45 points)
b. The research content of arguments and ability to answer questions (35 points)
c. Mannerism, reverence to the court, and time management (20 points)

12. DISCLAIMER

 The material in the Moot Court proposition 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 coincidental.
13. INTERPRETATION OF THE RULES

a. The Organizer's decision as regards the interpretation of rules or any other matter related to
the competition will be final.
b. If there is any situation, which is not contemplated in the rules, the Organizer's decision on
the same shall be final.
c. 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 at any time before and/or during the
competition.

d. Any dispute arising in the moot courtrooms during the rounds would be at the discretion of
the presiding officer of the respective courtroom.
e. In any conflict, the decision of the Principal, Army Institute of Law, Mohali, would be final.

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Institute Moot Court Society Coordinator:
Dr. Bajirao Rajwade

Event Convenor:
Dr. Puja Jaiswal

Institute Moot Court Society:

Dr. Kulpreet Kaur
Ms. Chanpreet Kaur
Ms. Jasleen Chahal
Dr. Harpreet Kaur
Ms. Anmolpreet Kaur

Student Convenors:
Ms. Aafreen Choudhary +91 8619876148/7696152800
Mr. Rajesh Jha +91 9779719927

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 REGISTRATION FORM
CHECKMATE-2020

NOTE – PLEASE USE BLOCK LETTERS ONLY TO FILL IN DETAILS

SOFT COPY OF THE FORM TO BE SUBMITTED.
Teams are required to send the scanned copy of their Institute's Id card with this form

1. Name & Address of Participating College/University:

_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

2. Contact Number of College: _____________________________________________

3. Name of Head of the Institution (Principal/Director)_________________________

Contact Number: _____________________________________________________

4. Name of Faculty Coordinator of Institute’s MCS___________________________

Contact Number: _____________________________________________________

5. TEAM DETAILS:
Name of Counsel I:________________________
Phone No. _______________________________
E-mail: __________________________________
Gender:__________________________________
Sign:____________________________________
Name of Counsel II:_______________________
Phone No.________________________________
E-mail:__________________________________
Gender:__________________________________
Sign:____________________________________
Name of Researcher: ______________________
Phone No.________________________________
E-mail:__________________________________
Gender:__________________________________
Sign:____________________________________

6. Details of Payment of Registration Fee:

Transaction ID:_______________________
Bank:_______________________________
Date of payment:______________________

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 MOOT PROPOSITION
CHECKMATE-2020

1. Peter Hemsworth, aged 40 years, was a well-known mathematician from Cambridge. He

had made great strides in research and had many publications to his credit. Having taught in the
UK as well as the United States for many years, he decided to move to India in 2008. He got an
excellent job at the Advanced Centre for Mathematics in Mumbai as an Associate Professor.
Besides teaching and administrative tasks, he was offered a particular post for guiding Ph.D.
students.

2. Alexa was the daughter of an Englishman (James Courtney) and Maithili Raghuraman, a
lady of Indian origin. Her parents, before her birth, had shifted to India in 1980 and had taken
citizenship. Alexa was born in 1986 in Bombay (now Mumbai). Having completed her
schooling and college in Mumbai, she went for her masters in Mathematics to Oxford.
Returning to India 2010, Alexa Courtney got herself enrolled as the first student for doctoral
studies under Dr. Peter.

3. Even though he was her Ph.D. guide, Alexa fell in love with Dr. Peter and soon, to the
surprise of all, told her parents that she wanted to get married to Dr. Peter. Her parents were
not in favor of this alliance due to two reasons. One that there was an age gap between them,
and secondly, they wanted their daughter to settle in the UK.

4. Despite the opposition, both of them got married in 2013. Alexa and Peter were happily
married, and she completed her Doctoral work in 2016. She, too, got a job at the same
Mathematics center where Dr. Peter was teaching. Life was going perfectly as both Alexa and
Peter complement each other well at home and work.

5. Peter and Alexa had very few friends. One couple whom they were very close to were the
Gujrals. Rajesh Gujral was an IT wizard working in a multinational in Mumbai, while his wife
Suneet Gujral was an artist and interior decorator. Rajesh was such a brilliant professional that
he could hack into a computer or even a home system remotely and take control of it. The
Gujrals met Peter and Alexa regularly and got along rather well.

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6. Around the beginning of 2018, Peter and Alexa got very busy with their professional lives
as both got a research assignment independently.

7. The work made them drift apart. There were rumors too of Peter being in a relationship
with Suneet Gujral. When confronted, both Peter and Suneet denied everything. Due to too
much of work pressure, Peter censured Alexa and even assaulted her once. After this incident,
their relationship got strained further.

8. In December 2019, Alexa got pregnant. Dr. Peter asked her to abort the child as he
claimed that he was not ready to start a family. On her refusal, Peter got livid. He rebuked
Alexa for leaving the job to which Alexa refused. Peter even went on to allege that the father
the baby she was expecting was probably Rajesh. Alexa was disgusted at his behavior. She left
her matrimonial home and shifted into a hotel close by.

9. On getting to know about this incident, Rajesh and Suneet felt pity for her, and they asked
Alexa to move into their home. Alexa started living with the Gujrals, and as time went by,
Peter got more and more agitated with Alexa. He called her a few times, coaxing her to return,
but she refused.

10. Then on the 5th of May 2020, Alexa was called by Peter to his home on the pretext that his
parents wanted to meet her. He expressed his desire that he wanted to sort out things between
them so that they could go ahead with their lives. Alexa, along with Rajesh, went to meet all of
them on the 11th of May,2020. Though Peter's parents were not there, he was cordial and
explained that due to medical reasons, his parents could not come. Then they had dinner
together. Alexa took very little food. It was 10:30 P.M., and Alexa looked tired. Seeing this,
Peter nearly forced Alexa to stay back for the night as it was late. Rajesh reluctantly agreed and
went back home and told Alexa that he would pick her up after 10.00 A.M. the next morning.

11. The next morning on reaching Peter's house, Rajesh was surprised that no one answered
the doorbell. After ringing the bell for about 05-6 minutes, he called Peter, who said that he
was at work and had left home at 07.00 A.M. Peter said that Alexa was not answering his
phone too.

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12. Rajesh tried to push the front door. Once inside, he started searching the house. Soon to his
horror, he found Alexa hanging in the bedroom from the fan. He called Peter as well as the
Police. The Police made an inquest report and sent the body for post mortem examination.
They took whatever evidence they could find. The Alexa (electronic device) was also taken as
evidence. Another Alexa mini music player was lying on Peter's bedside, which was not found
at the time of the search.

13. When Rajesh was questioned, he failed to give any plausible explanation of how he got
ingress into the house.

14. The post mortem report came in the next day. After this, Peter was arrested and a case was
filed under the Sec 306, 316 and 325 of the IPC.

15. Rajesh, during an investigation, confessed to the Police that he had taken the Alexa mini
music player who was lying on the bedside.

16. At the trial, the Prosecution claims that the last conversation in the room could have been
recorded by ``Alexa", a mini music player that records conversations if the word ``Alexa" is
spoken twice within its vicinity.

17. Rajesh claims that if he is given an opportunity, he could retrieve the recording of this and
find out what the last conversation, since the word Alexa must have been mentioned. He
suggested that he was willing to do this if he is not charged with the offense of theft, trespass,
or any other offense under the law.

18. Peter believes that Rajesh was holding the system to ransom. Peter claims that producing
this as evidence was an invasion of his privacy.

19. Peter also submitted his written consent to the NARCO analysis examination and any
other relevant test to be performed. Rajesh, on the other hand, flatly refused to undergo the
same.

20. On behalf of the State and the accused person, argue the case.

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QUESTIONS BEFORE THE TRIAL COURT:

 Whether evidence from the Alexa devices is admissible in a Court of Law?

 Whether evidence stolen from the crime scene is admissible in a court of law?
 Whether Dr. Peter and Rajesh can be subjected to NARCO analysis?
 Whether Dr. Peter can be charged under Section 316, IPC?
 Is it a fit case where the court should add a charge u/s 302 IPC and try the accused
person for that charge as well?

Note: The teams are free to frame their own additional issues while staying within the ambit of
the Moot Proposition.

Annexure: Post Mortem Report

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 Annexure

POST MORTEM REPORT

1. Name: Alexa Courtney Hemsworth

2. Race and Age: Mixed blood / 35 years
3. Clothes: Blue pair of jeans and a halter neck
4. Injuries: Deep laceration around the neck [1" wide] / Fractured wrist [Left] and a small
abrasion on the right side of the face. Hyoid fracture present.
5. Found to be with the 22-week foetus
6. Time of Death: Approximately between 4:00 A.M. and 08.00 A.M. of 12th May 2020
7. Viscera report: No food matter was found. Some quantity of tea and water present.
8. Cause of Death: Asphyxia due to hanging (Unnatural).

Dr. B.M. Sarosh

Dr. F.N. Roy
King George's Hospital and College
Navi Mumbai
Dated: May 14th, 2020

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