FRESHER’S
MOOT COURT COMPETITION
This
is to inform all the First Year B.L.S.LL.B students about the Fresher’s Moot
Court Competition organized by the Moot Court Society. The Fresher’s Moot Court
Competition will be held on the Saturday,
8thAugust and the Draw of lots for the same will be conducted on
the 6th August. Kindly
give your registrations on or before 31st of July.
For
registration the A division students kindly give your full name and register
with Yash Chhadva – 9664372030
The
B division students kindly give your full name and register with
Namrata
Mehta – 9930876512
Moot Proposition
The Republic of Westeros is a
country situated in West Asia and was a colony of the British Empire for over
200 years. Westeros achieved Independence in the year 1951 and the cultural,
social and political situation of the country is similar to that of India. It
is a diverse country with multiple religions, languages and people of different
classes. The laws of Westeros are pari materia
with the laws of India. The judgments pronounced by the various High Courts and
the Supreme Court of India carry a very high persuasive value with the courts
of Westeros.
On 2nd May 2015, Mr. Tyrion
Lannister who is the President of the Lannister Party published a list of
“Westeros’s Most Corrupt People” which included the name of Mr. Jon Snow who is
a leader of another prominent political party. Thereafter, Mr. Snow proceeded
with filing a criminal complaint for defamation under section 500 of the
Westeros Penal Code (WPC). These proceedings were later stayed by the Supreme
Court of Westeros. In the run-up to the 2015 Lok Sabha polls of Westeros,
politicians from various parties filed several defamations cases against each
other for comments that could have been simply dismissed as political banter.
Moreover, the Baratheon government in the state of Bravos has filed dozens of
criminal defamation cases against media houses in various session courts across
the state, for pointing out lapses on the part of the administration.
Due to these events, several Writ
Petitions were filed before the Supreme Court challenging the constitutionality
of sections 499 and 500 of the WPC which deal with the offence of Defamation
with the lead petitioner being Society for Freedom of Speech (SFFS). A notice
was sent out to Union of Westeros seeking its opinion/viewpoint as to why
defamation should not be decriminalized and should just be a civil wrong.
The Petitioners argued that these provisions
are being misused to curb the freedom of media as well the right to free
speech. They relied on the examples of England where defamation is no more an
offence and the landmark case of Shreya
Singhal v Union of India amongst
others. The Respondent argued that defamation comes within the ambit of
reasonable restrictions under Article 19 of the Constitution of Westeros.
The Hon’ble Supreme Court has framed
the following issues:
1.
Whether the Writ Petition is
Maintainable?
2.
Whether section 499 and section
500 of the WPC violate Part III of the Constitution?
3.
Whether these sections are
unconstitutional and must be struck down by the Court?
