20th Pro Bono Enviro National Moot Court Competition, 2026-27, by SoEL, TNDALU, Chennai: Register by 20 November 2026

For twenty years, Pro Bono Enviro has rested on one quiet conviction: that the rivers, the forests, the coasts and every living thing that depends on them deserve a voice in our courtrooms, and that young advocates can give them one. Year after year, students from across the country have come to argue for those who cannot argue for themselves.

This year, that conviction turns twenty. The Moot Court Association, School of Excellence in Law, The Tamil Nadu Dr. Ambedkar Law University, Chennai, invites students of law from every corner of India to the 20th Pro Bono Enviro National Moot Court Competition, 2026-27, for the Padma Vibhushan K. Parasaran Ever-Rolling Trophy for Excellence in Mooting Advocacy, with the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board as Title Sponsor.

About the Organiser

The School of Excellence in Law (SoEL) is the constituent school of The Tamil Nadu Dr. Ambedkar Law University (TNDALU), Chennai, a State university devoted entirely to legal education. The Moot Court Association is the student body that leads mooting at the school: it prepares students for competitions across the country, and it hosts national competitions of its own in Chennai. Pro Bono Enviro is the Association’s oldest and dearest. It began in 2006, and it has been carried since by successive batches of students, each of whom inherited it from the one before and handed it on.

The twentieth edition is guided by its Chief Patrons, Justice V. Bharathidasan, Retd. Judge, Madras High Court, Mr Om Prakash E., Senior Advocate, Madras High Court, and Tmt P. Sumathi, Law Secretary, Government of Tamil Nadu, and by its Patrons, Prof. Dr. Ranjit Oommen Abraham, Registrar (i/c), TNDALU, and Prof. Dr. V. Balaji, Dean, TNDALU.

About the Competition

Pro Bono Enviro is India’s oldest national moot court competition devoted exclusively to environmental law. It asks participants to take on the questions that will shape environmental law in the years ahead: clean air and water, forests, coastal ecosystems, climate and accountability for harm to the environment. Teams prepare memorials for both sides, undertake serious legal research and argue before Benches drawn from the judiciary, the senior Bar and the academy.

The commemorative twentieth edition follows a hybrid format, so that a team from anywhere in India can take part from its own campus. The Qualifier Round, the Preliminary Rounds and the Quarter-finals are held online. The four teams that reach the Semi-finals come to Chennai for the Semi-finals and Finals on 9 January 2027, with travel fare reimbursed and stay arranged.

The Qualifier Round

The Qualifier Round has two parts: the team’s memorials for both sides, due on 25 November 2026, and the Research and Procedure Assessment (RPA), a one-hour online test taken by the team’s Researcher on 23 November 2026, from 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM. Memorials carry 60% and the RPA 40% of the Qualifier Score, and the top twenty-four teams go through to the Preliminary Rounds.

The Oral Rounds

The Preliminary Rounds and Quarterfinals are argued online on 12 and 13 December 2026, after the Inauguration and a live draw of fixtures. The Semi-finals, the Finals and the Valedictory Ceremony take place in person in Chennai on 9 January 2027.

Important Dates

Eligibility

The Competition is open to students pursuing a three-year or five-year LL.B. or B.L. course at an institution recognised by the Bar Council of India. Each institution may send one team of two or three members: in a team of three, two are Speakers and one the Researcher; in a team of two, one Speaker is also named the Researcher.

How to Register

Registration is done entirely online through EnviroPort, the Competition’s official registration and participation portal, on the Competition website. The same portal is used later for clarifications on the Moot Proposition, the submission of memorials and the Research and Procedure Assessment.

• Provisional Registration (optional and free): an institution, usually through its moot court society, can hold its place and receive an Enviro Pass, its Provisional Registration ID.

• Final Registration: the team registers its members and pays the fee. Each team receives its Team Code the moment it submits, and every member receives a confirmation e-mail.

Register here: https://pbenmcc.mcasoel.in/enviroport

Teams that complete Final Registration before 14 November 2026 receive a month of free SCC Online access, from 16 November to 16 December 2026.

Registration Fee

The fee is per team, and depends on the institution and the date of Final Registration.

The fee is paid by NEFT or bank transfer to the account given given below, and the reference number, date and receipt are entered at Final Registration. The fee is not refundable. The lower fee applies only to the fifteen Government Law Colleges affiliated to TNDALU.

Account name: Tamil Nadu Dr. Ambedkar Law University Moot Court Association

Account number: 67104604033

Bank: State Bank of India

Branch: PNSB Branch, Raja Annamalaipuram

IFSC code: SBIN0070688

Branch code: 70688

Awards

For its twentieth year, the Competition institutes five ever-rolling trophies in the names of luminaries of the Bench and the Bar, each passing from champion to champion, with a prize pool of Rs. 2,30,000.

• Winners: Rs. 1,00,000, the Padma Vibhushan K. Parasaran Ever-Rolling Trophy for Excellence in Mooting Advocacy, the Champions’ Citation and a year of SCC Online for each member.

• Runners-up: Rs. 30,000, the Runners-up Trophy and the Finalists’ Citation.

• Best Written Submissions: Rs. 35,000 and the Senior Advocate V. P. Raman Memorial Ever-Rolling Trophy for Excellence in Drafting Written Submissions.

• Best Student Advocate (Male): Rs. 20,000 and the Justice N. V. Balasubramanian Memorial Ever-Rolling Trophy for Distinction in Oral Advocacy (Male).

• Best Speaker (Female): Rs. 20,000 and the Justice Basheer Ahmed Sayeed Memorial Ever-Rolling Trophy for Distinction in Oral Advocacy (Female).

• Best Researcher: Rs. 20,000 and the Senior Advocate T. V. Ramanujun Ever-Rolling Trophy for Excellence in Legal Research.

• Iyarkai Kaappor Award: Rs. 5,000 in medals and a Certificate of Commendation for the semi-finalist that treads most lightly on the earth.

The Second Runners-up receive medals and Certificates of Accomplishment, Certificates of Merit go to the second-placed in each individual award, and every participant receives an e-certificate.

Competition Materials

Competition website: www.pbenmcc.mcasoel.in

Brochure and Rulebook: Click here

Contact

For general queries, write to probonomoot@mcasoel.in. For anything specific, the right person to reach is below.

Registrations

Mr Arun, Additional Secretary, MCA

+91 81247 99899

Memorials, penalties and the compliance review hearing

Mr Varshan Shanmuganathan, Joint Secretary, MCA

+91 90808 02403

RP Assessment, virtual rounds and technical support

Ms Annliya Anil, Additional Secretary, MCA

+91 85477 92427

General queries and grievances

Ms Anjana Sarvashree, Joint Secretary, MCA

+91 98840 72400

Convenor

Mr Ashwad Dhinakaran, Convenor, 20th Pro Bono Enviro NMCC & President, Moot Court Association

+91 95514 36255 | president@mcasoel.in

In 2006, the first Bench of Pro Bono Enviro heard a case for the environment. Every edition since has been argued by students who never met the ones who came before them, and yet carried the same case forward. This year, the case passes to a new generation. Whether your students have argued in many moots or are about to stand before a Bench for the very first time, there is a place for them here, and a voice the earth is waiting to hear.

We look forward to welcoming you in our twentieth year.

The Moot Court Association

School of Excellence in Law

The Tamil Nadu Dr. Ambedkar Law University, Chennai