Event Report | 2nd Surana and Surana and Army Institute of Law Family Law National Moot Court Competition 2021

Army Institute of Law has always believed that mooting affords participants the opportunity to decipher substantive legal problems while giving them an insight on practical aspects of law, which cannot be tutored in the confines of a classroom. With this objective in mind and a dream that stood undaunted, AIL and Surana and Surana International Attorneys decided to go ahead and conduct the 2^nd edition of the Surana & Surana and Army Institute of Law Family Law National Moot Court Competition 2021.

The times were unprecedented, but the organisers rose to the occasion and shifted this National Moot Court Competition to a virtual set-up. With the expertise and cooperation provided by Surana and Surana, a firm which is not only ranked among the best law firms of India, but also one which has the most expansive and extraordinary set of academic initiatives, the bar of the competition was already set high. We received an overwhelming response upon the release of the moot problem, with more than 50 teams registering for the competition. The cap was increased from 32 to 40 teams and eventually 37 participated in the competition, due to unavoidable last minute emergencies.

As the title of the Competition suggests, the moot proposition was based on multiple facets of personal laws, marriage laws and custody of a child. Conceived to create awareness about the juxtaposition of static family law issues with the ever-emerging jurisprudence in this field, the aim was to revolutionise participants’ mooting experience, and to encourage them to think outside the box, but with a humane perspective.

After a series of rounds, revered judges from the legal fraternity declared the top two teams who battled in the court room for the coveted title of the ‘Winner’ of the 2^nd Surana and Surana and AIL Family Law Moot Court Competition, 2020-21. The top two teams in the final rounds were adjudged by an esteemed panel consisting of Hon’ble Mr. Justice Rajiv Narain Raina, Former Judge, Panjab and Haryana High Court, Mr. Anil Malhotra, Advocate, Punjab and Haryana High Court and Dr Deepak Jindal, Advocate Punjab and Haryana High Court.

Following prizes were distributed at the end of the Competition:

1. Winner (Rs. 20,000) – VIT School of Law, VIT, Chennai
2. Runners-up (Rs. 15,000) – D.E.S. Shri Navalmal Firodia Law College
3. Best Memorial (Rs. 10,000) – Dr. Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University, Lucknow
4. Best Student Advocates (Rs. 5,000) – Ms. Chathurya Srinivasan, National Law University, Jodhpur and Ms. N. Asmitha, VIT School of Law, Chennai
5. The Spirit of Surana Award – School of Law, University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Dehradun
6. 2^nd Best Student Advocate – Ms. Himashri Yadav, Faculty of Law, University of Lucknow
7. 3^rd Best Student Advocate – Ms. Lavanya Agarwal, National Law University, Jodhpur
8. 4^th Best Student Advocate – Ms. Shreya Shrivastava, Dr. Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University, Lucknow
9. Best Speaker of the Final Rounds Award – Ms. Nivedita Muchilote, VIT School of Law, Chennai
10. 2^nd Best Memorial – Gujarat National Law University
11. 3^rd Best Memorial – Modern Law College
12. 4^th Best Memorial – Symbiosis Law School, Pune

We congratulate all the winners and participants alike and hope that we get to see more fresh face in the next edition of the competition.