Chennai: At the 11th All India moot court competition, the team from School of Excellence in Law, Tamil Nadu, was adjudged winner out of 34 participating universities.
Kerala HC judges, Justice Muhammed Mushtaq and Justice Mary Joseph, judged the finals of the competition, conducted by Government Law College, Thiruvanathapuram. The students who won the Justice V.R Krishna Iyer Rolling Trophy were Gopika Sasidharan, Sneha Pradeep and Nivedita Menon.
The moot court problem was about the right to conduct public meetings on roadsides, which political parties claimed as part of constitutional right of freedom of assembly and speech. The petitioners contended that there is no constitutional right to conduct public meetings on the side of the road, as the road margins are intended only for pedestrians and public.
Another issue was whether an open comment made by a Judge, who was a party to the judgment, would amount to bias, so as to give cause of action to the aggrieved party to file a review petition.
Another question was as to whether conducting ceremonies outside a temple is a part of essential religious practices. Participants had to argue for both the petitioners as well as the respondents.
The winning team led by Gopika, daughter of Justic K.K. Sasidharan of Madras high court, contested against 33 teams, which include National Law School, Odissa and Amity School of Law, Delhi.
