Hello, Happy Holi and welcome to the 7th edition of the NUJS-HSF National Corporate Law Moot Court Competition to be held from 6th-8th March, 2015. 

The competition, which is on an invitation-only basis, will be held on 6, 7 and 8 March 2015 at the NUJS campus in Kolkata. As previously, the moot problem this year is based on the commercial laws of India with a strong international element. Although the forum for the moot problem is the Calcutta High Court, the problem is based on concepts which have an international character.

The moot, in its six prior editions, has gained the reputation of being one of the toughest, exciting and intense moot court competitions in India. Much of this is credited to the high standard judging as well as the challenging problem. In what should lead up to Chris Parsons (Chairman of the Herbert Smith Freehills India group), Nicholas Peacock (Partner, Herbert Smith Freehills), and Kristin van Zweiten (Lecturer at the University of Oxford), will travel to NUJS to be among the judges for the final. Other judges will include pre-eminent members of the bar and bench.

To read the Moot Problem, please visit - http://www.herbertsmithfreehills.com/-/media/Files/PDFs/2015/NUJS-HSF_Moot_Court_Problem_2015.pdf

The list of participating colleges are - 

• NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad
• National Law Institute University, Bhopal
• National Law School of India University, Bangalore
• National Law University, Delhi
• National Law University, Jodhpur
• National Law University, Odisha
• ILS Law College, Pune
• Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law, Punjab
• Nirma University, Ahmedabad
• Government Law College, Mumbai
• Symbiosis Law School, Pune
• Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University, Lucknow
• Jindal Global Law School, Sonepat
• Gujarat National Law University, Gandhinagar
• School of Law, Christ University, Bangalore
• Hidayatullah National Law University, Raipur
• Campus Law Centre, Delhi
• National University of Research in Law, Ranchi
• National University of Advanced Legal Studies, Kochi

Like every year, there will be 5 rounds in the competition in this edition as well. There will be two rounds of prelims where all 19 teams will argue once as Appellants, and once as Respondents. Thereafter, 8 teams will progress to the Quarter Finals, from where on it will be a knockout affair. This will be followed the Semi Finals with four teams, and the two winners will progress to square off against each other in the grand final. 

There will be two rounds of prelims on 7th March, followed by the Quarter Finals on the same evening. The Semi Finals and Finals will take place on 8th March. 

The total prize money up for grabs this year is INR 80,000. This will be split among the winners of the various awards as follows - 

WINNERS - INR 30,000

RUNNERS-UP - INR 20,000

BEST SPEAKER - INR 15,000

BEST MEMORIAL - INR 15,000

We will be live blogging all rounds of the competition, beginning with the prelims tomorrow morning at 11.00 am. 

Registrations have concluded and the teams have arrived on campus for the opening ceremony.

More from us once the rounds begin. For now, good night!  

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7TH MARCH - DAY 1

PRELIMINARY ROUNDS:

11.30 am: Good Morning! Things have finally gotten underway here! Teams have proceeded to their respective courtrooms and the oral arguments have begun.

11.50 am: COURT ROOM 1

The judges don't seem to be convinced by the Appellant Speaker's argument on the issue of corruption. The judge remarks that he understands the essence of the argument, but the speaker cannot merely argue on fact and needs to be more convincing by pointing out the relevant authority. 

12.10 am: COURT ROOM 5

In what will prove to be a tough panel, judges Pingal Khan and Goutham Shivshankar are engaging in a volley of questions with the Appellant Speaker on the point of the liability of the escrow agent. 

12:20 am: COURT ROOM 6

We are in the middle of an extremely interesting exchange regarding the legal implicatons of a letter of intent and whether the same is binding on parties. This discussion was intertwined with an analysis of the nature of representations and warranties. The heat seems to be on this court room!

12.30 am: COURT ROOM 10

A lawyer must always measure his/her words. The Speaker suggested that an agreement to agree is necessarily subject to a future contract. Resident judge Kumarjit Ray pointed out that this would necessarily imply that the prior agreement will remain in force till such future contract is negotiated.  

Interesting argument - alter ego! The speaker seems to have piqued the judges interest by raising the alter ego argument for the liability of the board of directors. 

2.02 pm: The second round of Prelims has begun! 

2.10 pm: COURT ROOM 4

Mohit Abraham is grilling the second speaker for the Appellants about the nature and function of an escrow agent. This was followed by a round of questioning regarding the role of a trustee in contrast with that of an agent. 

Woah! The judges attempted to stump the speaker on the subject of unjust enrichment. They pointed out that even the Bhopal Gas tragedy saw Union Carbide pay less compensation than the amount the Appellants are seeking!

2.26 pm: COURT ROOM 7

Anu Tiwari is attempting to explain the concept of title to the speaker using a water bottle and his brother judge!

2.35 pm: COURT ROOM 8

The speaker eloquently maneuvers around Souvik Bhadra's questions regarding criminal liability of the management of the company, citing some very recent and relevant case law. Anirudh Wadhwa however is quick to corner the speaker and now she seems a little jittery. 

3.30 pm: The second round of prelims have ended. We break for lunch here. We will be back with the names of the 8 teams that advance to the Quarter Finals as soon as the results of the prelims are announced. Stay tuned to this space. 

5.20 pm: We're back after a sumptuous lunch here, where the participants had a chance to interact with and get some additional feedback from the various judges. 

The participants have all gathered at the moot court hall for the announcement of the breaks to the Quarter Finals that are awaited any moment now. We will be back with the names of the teams that have qualified along with the match ups as soon as they are announced! 

5.45 pm: WE HAVE THE BREAKS!

After an inadvertent delay, the breaks to the Quarter Finals have been announced! The following are the teams that have made it - 

• ILS Law College, Pune
• National Law University, Delhi
• National Law University, Odisha
• National University of Advanced Legal Studies, Kochi
• Hidayatullah National Law University, Raipur
• National Law Institute University, Bhopal
• Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law, Patiala
• National Law School of India University, Bangalore

The match-ups for the Quarterfinals are as follows - 

Q/F 1 - ILS v NLUD

Q/F 2 - NLUO v NUALS

Q/F 3 - HNLU v NLIU

Q/F 4  - RGNUL v NLSIU

The teams have proceeded to the courtrooms and the courts are set to begin shortly. More from us soon. 

6.30 pm: Q/F 1 ILS v NLUD

The speaker for the Appellants is facing some intense questioning regarding the issue of corruption and abetment. Mini Gautam tells the speaker that the Appellant has a zero tolerance policy for corruption and therefore, diligence ought to have been carried out by her client on behalf of both parties. Some questioning on representations and warranties now. 

Rishav Banerjee now tells her that she ought to have questioned the Respondents at the time of execution of the contract and not now, before the court. 

6.40 pm: Q/F 2 NLUO v NUALS

The speaker from NLUO, arguing for the Appellants is trying to establish the difference between a trustee and an escrow agent. Just as he attempts to wriggle his way out of it, Kumarjit Ray corners him on the issue of the title to shares and the when ownership of property is actually transferred. 

6.45 pm: Q/F 4 RGNUL v NLSIU 

Gaurav Dasgupta questions the RGNUL speaker appearing for the Appellants as to why there was no condition precedent in the letter of intent; a simple condition precedent would have saved the companies the court date! But the speaker is not backing down. And his court manners are spot on! Much obliged, indeed!

6.55 pm: Q/F 3: HNLU v NLIU

The speaker for the Respondent is arguing on the point of piercing the corporate veil and does it with panache! She swiftly handles the judges' concerns and directs the attention of the judges to her substantives. She seems to be firmly on her feet and standing tall here! 

 RESULTS OF THE QUARTERFINALS

The following teams have progressed - 

• ILS Law College, Pune
• National Law University, Odisha
• National Law School of India University, Bangalore
• National Law Institute University, Bhopal

The following are the match-ups for the Semi Finals (Appellant v Respondent) - 

S/F 1 - NLIU v ILS

S/F 2 - NLUO v NLSIU

The semi finals will not be happening simultaneously, but rather one after the other. Therefore, we will not be live blogging the semi finals. We will be back for the results and the finals thereafter. Until then, Good Night! 

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 8TH MARCH - DAY 2

RESULTS OF THE FINALS

WINNERS - National Law Institute University, Bhopal

RUNNERS UP - National Law School of India University

BEST SPEAKER - Naman Singh Bagga (National Law University, Odisha)

BEST MEMORIAL - National Law School of India University