There was an air of energy and excitement as budding advocates presented their well-researched arguments during the preliminary rounds of the second edition of National Moot Court Competition at Damodaram Sanjivayya National Law University (DSNLU) on Saturday. Thirty-four teams from law schools from various parts of the country are participating in the competition which will conclude on Sunday. The moot ‘court’ reflects a courtroom scenario. “The competition facilitates students in learning practical side of the law. Textbook knowledge is not enough to mould oneself into a successful lawyer. Mooting is an essential activity for a law student,” said Iswarya Mogular, the student convener.
A lot of planning and research went into the preparations for the moot court competition with students spending over a month for the research ahead of the competitions. “Moot court helps in nurturing and channelizing the research and oratory skills of a person. Research is a crucial part of scoring in the moot court. It is important to know how to go about it through relevant websites,” said a participant Rongon Chowdhury, a student of CLC, Law faculty, Delhi University. Hailing from a family of lawyers, taking up a career in law for the economics graduate seemed like a natural course of action.
Interestingly, the participants came from diverse backgrounds, some that were totally disconnected from the field of law. Keshav Gulati from Delhi University took up the course in law after finishing his graduation in English Literature. Talking about his drastic shift in career path, Keshav said: “I didn’t want to do law just to become a lawyer. Most people are intimidated with law. But the fact is the field of law governs every small segment of our lives. Once you learn about the nitty-gritty, it gives you an insight into things we tend to ignore.”
Different reason
His team-mate Niyati Ashthana had a different reason to take up law. “Law in itself is very addictive,” said the first-year law student, who aspires to become a top advocate.
Many students showed their leaning towards litigation as a career option with choices of a future specialisation in public laws. Intellectual property law, cyber law and corporate law were other areas of common interest.
The semi-finals and the final for the moot court competition will be on Sunday. The winning team would receive a trophy and cash award of Rs 30,000, while the runner-up would get a trophy and Rs 20,000 as cash award. Other prizes include Black’s Law Dictionary for best memorial presentation; a trophy and a cash award of Rs 5,000 each to the best speaker of the competition and best speaker of the final.
