5th March, 2014, 03:30 pm:

Welcome to the 5^th NLU Antitrust Law Moot Court Competition, 2014 Blog!

National Law University, Jodhpur is proud to host the Fifth NLU Antitrust Law Moot Court Competition in association with Amarchand & Mangaldas & Suresh A. Shroff & Co., the Competition Commission of India, and knowledge partner, LexisNexis. We’re just two days away from the event. The rounds are scheduled from 7^th to 9^th March, 2014.

The NLU Antitrust Moot Court Competition was the first of its kind in the field of competition law. Since its inception in 2010, it has become one of the most popular moot court competitions in the country. This year will see 42 teams competing for a chance to win the trophy, prize money of Rs. 50,000 and the coveted internships at Amarchand & Mangaldas & Suresh A. Shroff & Co.

Further details can be found here:

http://www.nlujodhpur.ac.in/antitrust.php

You can also visit our Facebook page for live updates during the moot at:

https://www.facebook.com/NluAntiTrust

The blog will be promptly updated with the highlights and results of the competition as soon as they are declared. There will also be a live blog for the Final Rounds to be held on the 9^th of March, 2014. Stay tuned to know how your college is faring!

8th March, 2014, 03:00 pm:

Results for the Preliminary Rounds are out!

The results for the Preliminary Rounds of the 5^th NLU Antitrust Law Moot Court Competition are out! Here are the teams that made it to the Quarter Finals, in no particular order:

1.       National Law University, Delhi
2.       The National University of Advanced Legal Studies, Kochi
3.       Symbiosis Law School, Pune
4.       National Law School of India University, Bangalore
5.       Amity Law School, Noida
6.       NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad
7.       Indian Law Society Law College, Pune
8.       National Law Institute University, Bhopal

Stay tuned to see which teams qualify for the Semi Final Rounds, scheduled for later this evening!

8th March, 2014, 07:30 pm:

Here are the results of the Quarter-Finals!

The 5^th NLU Antitrust Law Moot Court Competition is in full swing. The Quarter Final Rounds are now over, and the following colleges have qualified for the Semi-Final Rounds, which will be held tonight (no particular order):

1. Indian Law Society Law College, Pune
2. NALSAR, Hyderabad
3. Symbiosis Law School, Pune
4. National Law University, Delhi

To find out which two teams qualify for the Final Rounds, and stand a chance to win a prize money of Rs. 20,000 and the coveted AMSS internships, watch this space!

8th March, 2014, 11:30 pm:

The results for the Semi-Final Rounds are out!

The wait is over! The two teams who will be battling it out in the Final Rounds tomorrow are:

1. Symbiosis Law School, Pune
2. National Law University, Delhi

We will be live blogging the Final Rounds tomorrow morning. Stay tuned to see who lifts the Winner’s Trophy for the 5^th NLU Antitrust Law Moot Court Competition, 2014!

9th March, 2014

LIVE BLOG: FINAL ROUNDS

 09:44 am

The Finals Rounds of the 5^th NLU Antitrust Law Moot Court Competition, 2014 are about to begin!

 09:48 am:

The judges for the Final Rounds are:

1. Dr. Geeta Gouri 

2. Mr. John Handoll 

3. Yaman Verma

 The rounds have begun!

9:54 am:

Speaker One (From NLU-Delhi) submits that the information given by the Director General is not "information" under Section 19 of the Competition Act, 2002 and cannot be part of fresh investigations.

10:00 am:

Judge Yaman Verma asked if all collusive behaviour is parallel behaviour. 

10:05 am:

Speker One from NLU-Delhi submits that there is no intelligible differentia between the different states, the relevant geographic market is Boheimia. The Judges ask her to skip over the argument about the relevant product market. The Speaker has been asked to summarize in a minute as her allotedd time is up.

10:09 am:

Speaker Two from NLU-Delhi is now addressing the Bench. She will be dealing with the issues regarding penalty for not filing notification and matrix emplyed for imposing penalty.

10:15 am:

Speaker Two from NLU- Delhi agrues that the second acquisition was not a combination and their Client was not under an obigation to file a notification.

10:18 am:

The Judges are asking the Counsel if  In-House Counsels are deemed to be advocates. The issue is if communication with In-House Counsels should be privileged. The Speaker refers to the case of Deepak Agrawal v Keshav Kaushak and Sushma Suri v. NCT.

Regarding foreign legal Counsels, she argues that a functional approach should be taken so that communication by foreign legal Counsels is also protected as they perform the same function as an advocate although in this case, they are not enrolled in the Bar.

10:23 am:

The Appellants have wrapped up their Arguments.

10:31 am:

Speaker One from Symbiosis Law School, Pune has begun with the Respondent's Submissions.

10:36:

Judge Geeta Gouri asks if the Government was the only consumer in the market. The Speaker says that the facts are silent on the Government's share in the market. She submits that both the Government and hte general public are consumers.

10:40 am:

Judge Gouri asks if all long term contracts are anti-competitive.

10:45 am:

Speaker One has now moved on to the second issue regarding privileged communication. She argues that communication with In House Counsels does not amount to a claim of defense. It is mere opinions and cannot be protected by privilege. She too is relying on the case of Satish Kumar.  

10:47 am:

The Speaker has been granted an extension of one minute to summarize her arguments regarding whether the Director General had authority to investigate the contrvention of Section 3.

10:48 am:

Speaker Two from Symibiosis Law School, Noida is now addressing the Bench. 

10:55 am:

Speaker Two argues that compimentary bidding is evident from the fact that the Appellants are selling their products at a lower a price to other byuers but chose to quote significatly higher prices when bidding to the Government. 

10:59 am:

Speaker Two explains that the two criteria relevant to determine cartelization are market concentration and homogeneity of products. Answering Judge Verma's question, she clarifies that the stationery market is homogeneous because the products are all close substitutes of each other.

11:11 am:

Both sides have made their submissions. The Appellants have been granted four minutes for rebuttals. NLU-Delhi attack the Respondents' "close subsitute" argument by saying that "pens and papers are, obviously, not substitutes of each other!" 

11:20 am:

Symbiosis Law School, Pune responds to the Apellants' reubttals. Speaker Two relies on cases to say that to show communication among cartel members mere agreements will suffice. "They don't have to shout it out from the roof!"

11:25 am:

Final Rounds of the 5^th NLU Antitrust Law Moot Court Competition, 2014 are now over. Judge Gouri says out loud what all of us sitting here are thinking - It's going to be a difficult task coming to a decision!

Judge Gouri says that the arguments from both sides were very well marshalled. She hopes that we all will, at some point of time, work for the Competition of Commission of Bohemia (India)! 

Stay tuned to find out who wins the 5^th NLU Antitrust Law Moot Court Competition, 2014!

12:07 pm:

The Valedictory Ceremony of the 5^th NLU Antitrust Law Moot Court Competition, 2014 has now begun! On this ocassion, the Centre for Competition Law and Policy, NLU, Jodhpur has launched its Working Paper Series - Competition Law Cirque. 

12:21 pm:

The wait is over! Here are the results:

Winners of the 5^th NLU Antitrust Law Moot Court Competition, 2014: Symbiosis Law School, Pune

Runners Up: NLU-Delhi

Best Student Advocate: Kriti Soni, NLU-Delhi

Second Best Student Advocate: Sonali Charak, NLSIU, Bangalore

Best Student Advocate of the Final Round: Gayatri Pradhan, Symbiosis Law School, Pune

Best Researcher: Deepan Shah, NLU-Delhi

Best Memorial: NUALS, Kochi

12:56 pm:

This is it for the 5^th NLU Antitrust Law Moot Court Competition, 2014. See you all next year at the 6th edition of our moot!