It was just one day before the last date of paying the registration fee and submitting participant details to the organizers, that I came to know about a Moot Court Competition being conducted at GITAM School of Law, Vishakapatnam. I would have not taken interest in it if not for the Moot problem said 498A IPC and 304B IPC !!!
As someone fighting couple of false matrimonial cases (1. Sec 498A IPC and Sec 3,4 of DP Act 2. Sec 12 of PWDV Act) on his own as Party-in-Person to protect his elderly parents who are falsely implicated in this motivated cases, saying Yes to this competition, was my instant reaction. This is one golden opportunity for me to hear and more importantly, see young law students argue a case, which is of total interest to me personally, for above mentioned reasons. I was confident to win the competition, irrespective of competition’s strength.
The Beginning
Now, I need to find my team mates and I had no ready options. Learned faculty put together the team and I got a team on the last date of registration. Phew!!
Now a short timeline to give you a feel of how it all happened before elaborating on details.
| Date | Time (IST) | Event Description |
| Thursday, July 4, 2019 | 11AM | Knowledge of the Moot Competition |
| Thursday, July 4, 2019 | 1PM | Consent for the Moot; Initial Team members identified |
| Thursday, July 4, 2019 | 2PM | WhatsApp Group created and team added |
| Friday, July 5, 2019 | 11AM | Registration fee Paid |
| Friday, July 5, 2019 | 11.34AM | Registration Details sent to MCC GSoL |
| Friday, July 5, 2019 | 2PM | Train tickets to Vizag booked |
| Friday, July 5, 2019 | 2.08PM | Got Acknowledgement from GMAC |
| Wednesday, July 10, 2019 | 7.54PM | Communicated Change in team composition to MCC GSoL |
The research for the Memorials arguments began and daily brainstorming of all possible argument points shared on Whatsapp. Evening face-2-face meetups to revisit the argument points and put text around the thoughts/ideas. That was exhausting and sometimes irritating, but really fruitful. Got Memorial copies from Library of our previous batch participants. They had participated in the Prelim and did not move forward. Their personal experiences were quite helpful in preparing ourselves for this Moot.
The Preparation and the Travel to Vishakapatnam (The Vizag!)
Next set of Timelines…
| Date | Time (IST) | Event Description |
| Monday, July 22, 2019 | 4.31PM | Got Team Code GRMCVA05 |
| Tuesday, July 23, 2019 | 9.44PM | Sent the final version Memorials to MCC GSoL |
| Wednesday, July 24, 2019 | 9.23PM | Sent the final version Memorials again to MCC GSoL |
| Thursday, July 25, 2019 | 12.15PM | Participated in the Moot Rehearsal in College. Got inputs |
| Thursday, July 25, 2019 | 5.14PM | Got Schedule and Rules from MCC GSoL |
| Thursday, July 25, 2019 | 6.30PM | Started the loong Train Journey from Anantapur |
| Thursday, July 25, 2019 | 8.33PM | Got Memorials of Competitors for 2 Prelims |
| Friday, July 26, 2019 | 1.40PM | Reached Vizag |
Here are the Memorials my team prepared for the competition.
Memorial from Petitioner Point of view
Memorial from Accused Point of view
GITAM School of Law, the Venue
Instead of a boring text Travelogue, this timeline presentation should give the gist of our Journey coupled with some cool pics !!!
| Date | Time (IST) | Event Description |
| Friday, July 26, 2019 | 2.10PM | Took an Ola to GITAM |
| Friday, July 26, 2019 | 2.30PM | Reached GITAM SoL Building |
| Friday, July 26, 2019 | 2.40PM | Initial Hi Hellos done and the good Samaritans took us to Hotel |
| Friday, July 26, 2019 | 3.15PM | Registration Done and weird looks at/from other Teams |
| Friday, July 26, 2019 | 4.30PM | All formalities done |
| Friday, July 26, 2019 | 6.00PM | Made some friends |
| Friday, July 26, 2019 | 6.30PM | A little site seeing around Campus |
| Friday, July 26, 2019 | 6.45PM | Print outs of Competitor Memorials |
| Friday, July 26, 2019 | 8.30PM | Dinner |
| Friday, July 26, 2019 | 9.30PM | Rededicating ourselves to frame our Attacks as Prosecution as well as Defence |
| Saturday, July 27, 2019 | 2.30AM | Tired and Dozed off |
| Saturday, July 27, 2019 | 9.00AM | At the Venue. On Dot. |
| Saturday, July 27, 2019 | 9.15AM | Researchers Test |
| Saturday, July 27, 2019 | 9.30AM | First Prelims – Begin |
| Saturday, July 27, 2019 | 11.00AM | We Won the 1st Prelims. Going to 2nd Prelims |
| Saturday, July 27, 2019 | 11.30AM | Second Prelims – Begin |
| Saturday, July 27, 2019 | 12.45PM | We Won the 2nd Prelims too. Going to Quarter Final-1 |
| Saturday, July 27, 2019 | 1.30PM | Had a good lunch |
| Saturday, July 27, 2019 | 2.30PM | Quarter Final-1 Begins |
| Saturday, July 27, 2019 | 6.40PM | We Won the Quarter Finals too. Going to Semi Finals Tomorrow |
| Saturday, July 27, 2019 | 7.30PM | Reached Hostel. A little celebration. Not the usual though. |
| Saturday, July 27, 2019 | 9.30PM | Re-framed our Attacks as Prosecution as well as Defence based on new learnings |
| Sunday, July 28, 2019 | 1.00AM | Tired and Dozed off |
| Sunday, July 28, 2019 | 10.30AM | Semi Final-1 Begins |
| Sunday, July 28, 2019 | 11.50AM | Semi Final-1 Ends. Awaiting Results |
| Sunday, July 28, 2019 | 12.19PM | Created Whatsapp group to stay in Touch with new friends acquainted with here |
| Sunday, July 28, 2019 | 1.30PM | Had a good lunch |
| Sunday, July 28, 2019 | 1.45PM | Came to know my team is not selected to Final round |
| Sunday, July 28, 2019 | 3.00PM | Final Round starts between Best Two teams in the Competition by Points |
| Sunday, July 28, 2019 | 5.00PM | Final Round Ends – The Winner Emerges |
| Sunday, July 28, 2019 | 5.10PM | Valedictory Speeches |
| Sunday, July 28, 2019 | 5.35PM | Prize Distribution Begins |
| Sunday, July 28, 2019 | 6.00PM | Prize Distribution Ends with Photo Session |
| Sunday, July 28, 2019 | 6.15PM | Thank Yous and Good Byes |
| Sunday, July 28, 2019 | 9.16PM | Some nice time at Beach and savoured eateries |
| Sunday, July 28, 2019 | — | Slept late into night. Defeated. |
The Return Journey to Home
| Date | Time (IST) | Event Description |
| Monday, July 29, 2019 | 11.30AM | Left Campus from Back gate. Took Auto to Reach Railway Station |
| Monday, July 29, 2019 | 12.10PM | Reached Station. Had Lunchish in IRCTC hotel |
| Monday, July 29, 2019 | 1.15PM | Left Vizag |
The following are some of the safe pics 😉
During the Journey
We three, the Team. At the Venue.
(The Finalists/Runners Team & the Semi-Finalists/We )
Participation Certificate and the Bye Bye to Vizag.
Final Video.
It was a first time learning experience on how a Moot Competition runs at Regional level. I am done with Moot Competitions, at Regional level. And may be one National level Moot Competition. Just may be. Check out learning experiences and Identified improvement areas here.
Next Target is to help my classmate, seniors and juniors understand the beauty and value of moot competitions.
Second Competition is here.
