THE 3RD NATIONAL MOOT COURT COMPETITION, 2020nbu.ac.in/Notices and...

RDTHE 3 NATIONAL MOOT COURTCOMPETITION, 2020

ENLIGHTENMENT TO PERFECTION

nd rd22 & 23 February, 2020

ORGANISED BY

DEPARTMENT OF LAW,UNIVERSITY OF NORTH BENGAL

Accredited by NAAC with Grade “A”

RAJA RAMMOHUNPUR, P.O.: N.B.U.,Siliguri, Dist.- Darjeeling,

West Bengal- 734013India

CONTENTS

ABOUT DEPARTMENT OF LAW

...........................................................................................

1

ABOUT THE MOOT COURT SOCIETY

...................................................................................

2

ORGANISING

COMMITTEE

..................................................................................................

3

RULES OF THE COMPETITION

............................................................................................

3

I. ROUNDS OF THE COMPETITION:

................................ ................................ .............................

3

II. LANGUAGE:

................................ ................................ ................................ ............................

4

III. ELIGIBILITY FOR PARTICIPATION:

................................ ................................ ..........................

4

IV. COMPOSITION OF PARTICIPATING TEAMS:

................................ ................................ ............

4

V. DRESS CODE:

................................ ................................ ................................ .........................

4

VI. PARTICIPATION AND REGISTRATION:

................................ ................................ ....................

5

VII. MEMORIAL SUBMISSION:

................................ ................................ ................................ .....

6

VIII. GUIDELINES FOR FORMATTING MEMORIALS:

................................ ................................ .....

7

VIII.I. STRUCTURE OF MEMORIAL: ............................................................................................

7

VIII.II. TEAM CODE: .................................................................................................................... 7

VIII.III. CONTENT SPECIFICATIONS: .......................................................................................... 7

IX. SCORING AREA: ................................ ................................ ................................ ..................... 8 X. TIME FOR ORAL ROUNDS: ................................ ................................ ................................ ...... 8

X.I. PRELIMINARY ROUNDS AND QUARTER FINAL ROUNDS

...................................................

8

X.II. SEMI FINAL ROUNDS AND FINAL ROUND..........................................................................

8

X.III. MAXIMUM TIME ALLOTED

.................................................................................................

8

XI. SCOUTING:

................................ ................................ ................................ ............................

9

ACCOMMODATION AND TRAVEL

.........................................................................................

9

REGISTRATION FEES

........................................................................................................

9

MISCELLANEOUS

.............................................................................................................

10

CONTACT DETAILS

..........................................................................................................

10

I. STUDENT CO-ORDINATORS:

................................ ................................ ................................ ..

10

II. FACULTY CO-ORDINATORS:

................................ ................................ ................................ ..

10

LIST OF IMPORTANT DATES

............................................................................................

11

MOOT PROBLEM

..............................................................................................................

11

ABOUT DEPARTMENT OF LAW

The Department of Law is prominently situated on National Highway 31between

Bagdogra and Siliguri in the District of Darjeeling. The distance from Bagdogra is six

kilometres and from Siliguri is seven kilometres. The Department has its own campus in

the south Block of the North Bengal University. The sprawling campus of the University

enjoys the pristine beauty of the eastern Himalayas and is the intellectual hub of North

Bengal. Siliguri is an important subdivision of the district and commercial capital of

North Bengal. Located at the foot hills of eastern Himalayas, Siliguri is the gate way to

North eastern India and land locked countries like Bhutan and Nepal. It shares a huge

and porous international border with Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan. It is well connected

with all metropolis and major cities by air and rail. The Department of Law was formerly

known as the University College of Law and was established as such in the year 1974. It

was upgraded as the Department of Law in the year 2000.Presently the Department offers

B.A. LL.B. [Honours] 5-year integrated course, LL.M. course and Ph.D. The intake at the

LL.B. level is eighty, and the LL.M. course which was started in 1993has twenty-five

seats. The criteria of admission both at B.A.LL.B.[Honours] under CBCS mode and LL.M.

under CBCS mode are on merit. The Department has a rich Ph.D. programme. It was

started in 1999and since then more than 44 Ph.D. degrees have been awarded. Presently

there are about twenty-five scholars engaged in doctoral research under various faculty

members under the UGC Regulation, 2009. The Department attracts scholars and

students from all over India and especially from Sikkim, Assam, Tripura, Arunachal

Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Orissa. It also attracts students from Bhutan, Nepal and

Bangladesh. The Department was jointly selected by the British Council, Delhi,

University of Warwick, U.K. and the National Law School of India University to carry out

the' Human Rights Outreach Project'. It was also a partner institution with CEERA,

National Law School of India University for carrying out environment education for forest

personnel, Tea Garden personnel and judicial officers. The Department has published

Booklets in Human Rights, Environment Legislations in Bengali and Nepali. It has a Legal

Aid Clinic in collaboration with the State Legal Services Authorities. It runs a very

successful NSS programme. The recently formed Centre for Child Rights at the behest of

1

rdThe 3 National Moot Court

Competition, 2020nd rd22 & 23 February, 2020

Department of Law

University of North Bengal

(Accredited by NAAC with grade “A”)

the UNICEF in collaboration with the Legal Aid Committeeshall also conduct outreach

programmes in relation to child rights and childwelfare. Last but not the least the

Department has been organizingRegional, National and International Seminar /

Conference / workshop/Symposium etc. at regular intervals (30 programmes in last 14

years. TheDepartment also undertakes a number of Research Projects sponsored

bydifferent National and International bodies on regular basis. Moreover, ithas close

collaboration with renowned national and internationalinstitutions. The publication cell

of the Department is very active. It bringsout the Indian Journal of Law and Justice on

regular basis during March andSeptember each year. More over the cell brings out an

edited book on thetopic of that year's Seminar. The Cell has presently undertaken a

venture topublish the researchprojects undertaken by the Department and

outstandingresearch work done by the students. That apart, it is noteworthy that

Department of Law established a 'Centre for Cyber Law and Cyber Security' in the year

2018.

The Moot Court Society of Department of Law, University of North Bengal has been set up

in 2018. The objective of this Moot Court Society is to provide the students an opportunity

to develop their advocacy skills. Participation in Moot Court Competition enhances

researching skill of a student and also prepare a student to respond to an unease

situation. It also helps in building confidence in a law student. Mooting gives a practical

court room experience to a law student.

The Convenor of the Moot Court Society, Department of Law, University of North Bengal

is Prof. (Dr.) Gangotri Chakraborty. The other members of Moot Court Society are

Dr.Priya Roy, Dr. Dipankar Debnath, Mr. Biresh Prasad& Ms. Suparna Bandyopadhyay.

The Student members are Rituraj Bhowal, Shivam Jaiswal, Bijan Ghosh, Arunima

Chhetri, Joydeep Dutta, Jay Sharma, Yash Sarkar, Aritra Jana, Subhechha Bhowmik,

Debabrata Pyne, Joydeb Roy, Anamika Pradhan, Anurag Lama, and Megha Acharya.

The Moot Court Society has also organised following intra-departmental competition in

order to encourage the students of Department of Law, University of North Bengal:

i. Intra Departmental Client Counselling Competition;

ABOUT THE MOOT COURT SOCIETY



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2

ii. Intra Departmental Moot Court Competition;

iii. Intra Departmental Mock Trial Competition.

An organising committee for smooth holding of National Moot Court Competition is

constituted of the following persons:

i. Prof. (Dr.) Rathin Bandyopadhyay (Head of the Department and Director of

the National Moot Court Competition);

ii. Prof. (Dr.) Gangotri Chakraborty (Chairperson of the National Moot Court

Competition);

iii. Dr.Sujit Kumar Biswas (Convenor of the National Moot Court Competition);

iv. Ms. Prerna Lepcha (Member);

v. Ms. Neelam Lama (Member);

vi. Dr. Sangeeta Mandal (Member);

vii.Ms. Sanyukta Moitra (Member);

viii.Dr. Soma Dey Sarkar (Member);

ix. Dr.Priya Roy (Member);

x. Dr.Chandrani Chatterjee (Member);

xi. Mr. Biresh Prasad (Member);

xii. Dr. Dipankar Debnath (Member);

xiii. Mr. Sanjay Dutta (Member);

xiv. Ms. Tania Basu Majumdar (Member);

xv. Mr. Shubhojeet Shome (Member);

xvi. Ms. Suparna Bandyopadhyay (Member);

xvii. Ms. Sagnika Das (Member).

I. ROUNDS OF THE COMPETITION:

The competition will have the following rounds; namely,

a) PRELIMINARY ROUND (preliminary round is bifurcated into Straight Round and

ORGANISING COMMITTEE

RULES OF THE COMPETITION



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3

Reverse Round);

b) QUARTER-FINAL ROUND (top 8 teams participating in preliminary round shall

qualify for quarter-final round);

c) SEMI-FINAL ROUND (semi-finalists shall be selected on the basis of knock-out

basis);

d) FINAL ROUND (finalists shall be selected on the basis of knock-out basis).

II. LANGUAGE:

The language of the competition will be English.

III. ELIGIBILITY FOR PARTICIPATION:

a) Students pursuing 3 years/5 years undergraduate LL.B. degree course are eligible to participate in this competition.

b) Only one team can participate from each institution.

IV. COMPOSITION OF PARTICIPATING TEAMS:

Composition of the participating teams shall be:

a) Each team shall consist of three (3) members. Two designated as speaker and one

as researcher.

b) The researcher may be permitted to argue as speaker only in case of illness or any

unforeseen event, but a written permission of the Moot Court Convener in such

case shall be mandatory.

V. DRESS CODE:

The participants shall adhere to following dress code when they shall be present in any

court room during the Competition:

a) Girls: Black salwar and white kurta or white shirt and black trousers along with

black coat and black shoes;

b) Boys: White shirt, black trousers and black tie along with black coat and black



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4

shoes.

Note: (a) The participating teams shall also adhere to the above-mentioned dress code

while attending the inaugural and valedictory ceremonies of the Competition.

(b) The aforesaid uniform must not bear anysign, identification mark or logo of any

institution, college or university and violation of same shall cause immediate

disqualification.

VI. PARTICIPATION AND REGISTRATION:

a) Team shou ld reg i s te r prov is iona l l y by send ing e -mai l t o th

by 5 day of January, 2020 with the subject

“Registration for National Moot Court Competition, 2020”through an authorised

official e-mail id.

b) On receiving the mail, the participants will be notified the Team code upon

confirmation of the participation.

c) A soft copy of duly filled in Registration form shall be mailed at

[email protected].

d) On reporting at the Department during the competition each team has to pay

registration fee (as mentioned in the Registration fee clause) along with the hard

copy of the Registration Form (the scanned copy of the Registration form has to th

be sent on or before 5 January, 2020 via mail to [email protected] as a

provisional registration).

e) No change in the names of the participants shall be permitted unless the same

has been communicated to the organizers a week prior to the event in

exceptional circumstances only after due proof has been attached.

f) No certificates shall be provided at the time of the Registration. The same shall be rd

provided only after the Valedictory Ceremony on 23 February, 2020. No

certificates and mementos shall be couriered/posted and no request for sending

certificates and mementos through post/courier shall be entertained.

[email protected]



Department of Law



5

mailto:[email protected]

VII. MEMORIAL SUBMISSION:

The following requirements for memorial must be strictly followed by the participants:

a) All memorials submitted for all purposes of the Competition shall strictly adhere to

the rules of the Competition. Each Team participating in the Competition must

prepare one Memorial on behalf of Petitioner(s)/Appellant(s) and one on behalf of

the Respondent(s).Further each team has to submit 6 hard copies of the

Memorials from each side. Non-compliance will entail a penalty of 1 point per copy

not submitted.

b) Petitioner(s)/Appellant(s) memorials are required to have a Blue cover and

Respondent(s) memorials are required to have a Red cover. The memorials shall

not contain any form of identification apart from the team code. If any such

identification or mark, symbol, etc. which has the effect of identifying the team is

found on the memorial, then it shall result in instant disqualification. A penalty of

1 mark shall be levied in case the memorial is submitted in any other format or as

a multiple file by the team. The hard copy of memorial must be exact replica of the

soft copy submitted with the Organisers. Any difference in the same will result in

disqualification from the Competition.

c) Each Team must send a soft copy of their memorials, in PDF format only, for s tevaluation by 1 February,2020 on or before 11:59 P.M. to

with the subject “Memorials for National Moot Court

Competition, Department of Law, and University of North Bengal”. The hard

copies of the memorials (6 copies for each side) have to be sent to the following thaddress on or before 10 February, 2020. No extensions will be granted with

respect to this deadline.

Address in which hard copies of memorials are to be couriered:

To,

The Head of the Department,

Department of Law,

University of North Bengal,

Raja Rammohanpur,P.O.: N.B.U.

District: Darjeeling, Pin Code: 734013,West Bengal.

[email protected]



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6

mailto:[email protected]

VIII. GUIDELINES FOR FORMATTING MEMORIALS:

VIII.I. STRUCTURE OF MEMORIAL:

The memorials must contain the following:

a) Cover Page;

b) Table of Contents;

c) Index of Authorities;

d) Statement of Jurisdiction;

e) Statement of Facts (Argumentative statement of facts would attract

penalties);

f) Issues raised;

g) Questions of Law /Summary of Arguments;

h) Arguments Advanced;

i) Prayer;

j) Appendix (Optional);

k) Exhibits (Optional).

VIII.II. TEAM CODE:

The team code must be ascribed on the top right corner of the cover page.

Team codes shall be intimated to participants through email on or before th

27 January, 2020.

VIII.III. CONTENT SPECIFICATIONS:

The following content specifications must be strictly adhered to:

a) Font and Size: Times New Roman, 12 pts.

b) Line Spacing:1.5 lines.thc) Footnotes: Follow Blue Book 20 Edition.

d) Page Margins: 1 inch on all sides

e) The Hard Copies of the Memorial shall be printed on only one side.

f) The citation should be in compliance with the 20th edition of Bluebook.

Speaking footnotes or Endnotes are discouraged.

It is to be noted that display of any sign, identification mark or logo of any institution,

college or university in the memorial or in any other document is strictly prohibited and

violation of same shall cause immediate disqualification.



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7

IX. SCORING AREA:

AREA OF SCORING POINTS

a) Memorial 20

b) Application of Facts 15

c) Understanding of Law and Procedure

20

d) Use of Authorities and Precedents

5

e) Response to questions & Articulation

25

f) Advocacy Skills, Court Craft and Demeanour

15

X. TIME FOR ORAL ROUNDS:

X.I. PRELIMINARY ROUNDS AND QUARTER FINAL ROUNDS

a) Each team will get a total of 25 minutes to present their case.

b) Each speaker shall not use more than10 minutes of the total time.

c) Each team shall get 5 minutes for rebuttal and there will be no sur-

rebuttal in preliminary round.

X.II. SEMI FINAL ROUNDS AND FINAL ROUND

a) Each team will get a total of 60 minutes to present their case.

b) One speaker shall not use more than 25 minutes of the total time.

c) Each team shall get 5 minutes for rebuttal and 5 minutes for sur-

rebuttal (if required).

d) This will be a knockout round.

X.III. MAXIMUM TIME ALLOTED

The maximum time provided would include the time that each team may

want to reserve for their rebuttal. At the commencement of each session the

team shall notify the Court Officer as to the division of time between the 2



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speakers (including rebuttal).

XI. SCOUTING:

Teams shall not be allowed to observe the orals of another team, unless they have been

officially knocked-out of the competition. Scouting is strictly prohibited. Scouting by any

team shall entail instant disqualification.

ACCOMMODATION AND TRAVELsta) Accommodation and food shall be provided to all teams by the organisers from21

thFebruary, 2020 (12:00 P.M. onwards) to 24 February, 2020 (till 12:00 P.M.). The

organising committee shall not take any responsibility of stay of participants beyond th 12:00 P.M. of 24 day of February, 2020.

b) Teams willing to stay beyond or before the dates of the moot, as specified, will have

to pay Rupees. 500/- per member per day.

c) The interested students are required, to fill-up the travel form and send the thscanned copy of same before 5 January, 2020 to [email protected] the

subject “Travel and Accommodation form”. Under no circumstances the Organiser

shall provide accommodation to any other person accompanying the team.

The team after reaching Siliguri must report at the Department of Law, University of North Bengal. After reporting as a team, the Department will make necessary arrangements for accommodation of the team.

REGISTRATION FEES



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9

NUMBER OF TEAM MEMBERS WITH ACCOMODATION

WITHOUT ACCOMODATION

Team with 3 (three) members Rupees 4000/- Rupees 2000/-

N.B.:

a) Teams willing to stay beyond or before the dates of the competition must

pay Rupees 500/- per day for each member, the same must be informed by th

5 January, 2020 to the Organising Committee. b) Registration fees must be paid in Department of Law at the registration desk, in cash.

MISCELLANEOUS

CONTACT DETAILS

a) If any one of the members of a team is notified or informed of any detail or

information concerning the Competition, it shall be deemed as if the said team as a

whole has been duly been notified or informed.

b) The copyright in the memorials submitted by the teams shall vest with the

Department of Law, University of North Bengal. The acceptance of such vesting is a

precondition to participation in the Competition.

c) In case of any doubt in the understanding or interpretation of any matter

concerning the Competition, the decision of the Organising Committee shall be

final and binding.

d) The organisers shall resolve unanticipated or unexpected contingencies, if any,

and the decision of the Organising Committee in this regard shall be final. The

acceptance of any such decisions of the Organising Committee is a precondition to

participation in the Competition.

e) The organisers reserve the right to use, amend, alter, vary or change, in any

manner whatsoever, the Rules governing the Competition, which would be

communicated to the teams within a reasonable period of time.

Any query relating to the moot court competition or relating to travel and accommodation

shall be asked by sending mail to [email protected]. However, participants are

free to contact following student co-ordinators, if required:

I. STUDENT CO-ORDINATORS:

a) Rituraj Bhowal(8101195170);

b) Shivam Jaiswal (8918270937).

II. FACULTY CO-ORDINATORS:

a) Dr.Priya Roy (945539673);

b) Dr. Dipankar Debnath (9932906953).



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10

LIST OF IMPORTANT DATES

MOOT PROBLEM

1. Indiana is a peninsular country having four major rivers. These rivers are important

and are lifeline to masses living along its courses. Gotham and Metropolis are two

cities that share different water bodies. Riverdale is one of the longest rivers of Indiana

that flows from Gotham City to Metropolis city.

2. Duckburg & Co. has set up a Chemical Industry in 2015 in Gotham city. The industry

has been set up at a far off place from the town keeping in mind the harmful effluents

of the industry. The company while setting up of the plant has already taken

permission from the Central Government and has complied with all the

provisions.

3. Duckburg & Co. also has proper mechanism to treat the harmful effluents being

discharged from its plant and also has a mechanism to recycle those discharged

effluents.

4. Gotham city is situated at the upper course of Riverdale while Metropolis is situated at

the lower course of the river.



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11

SPECIFICATION

DATES

Last date of

provisional registration

by sending scanned

copy of Registration Form and Travel & Accommodation

form. 5th

January, 2020.

Last date of

Seeking Clarification

10th January, 2020.

Date of Releasing Common Clarification 15th January, 2020.

Date of intimation of Team Codes 27th January, 2020.

Last Date of Sending the soft Copies of Memorials

1st

February, 2020.

Last Date on which the Hard Copies of Memorials must

reach Department of Law

10th

February, 2020.

Date of Competition

22nd

and 23rd

February,

2020.

5. Riverdale is one of the major sources of water supply in the city of Metropolis. The

Municipal Corporation of Metropolis supply water through its plant at scheduled time

to the wards of Metropolis. Metropolis Municipal Corporation also has 3 Reservoir

and significant amount of water comes from Riverdale.

6. The government of Indiana in 2016 took up a project of constructing a Dam across

Riverdale (this part of the river falls in the city of Gotham). Gotham City witnessed

huge rainfall in July, 2018. The rainfall caused massive flooding in the city and

affected the chemical plant of Duckburg & Co.

7. Due to flood the treatment plant of Duckburg &Co. has been heavily affected and the

hazardous effluents are being discharged in the water of Riverdale without being

treated.

8. Since the treatment plant of Duckburg & Co. is damaged due to flood, hazardous

effluents from this company are mixing with water of Riverdale.

9. The contaminated water of Riverdale is now stored in the Reservoir which is

maintained by the Municipal Corporation of Metropolis. The filtration system of

Metropolis Municipal Corporation is not adequate enough to filter out the harmful

chemical substances that are being mixed from the plant of Duckburg & Co.

10. Residents of Metropolis became unwell after consuming the contaminated water.

Following this situation ABC Corp., a Company, started selling drinking water in the

city of Metropolis at a reasonable price.

11. ABC Corp. is a leading company selling soft drinks as well in Indiana. ABC Corp. has

its plant in the outskirts of City of Metropolis. The company used to extract ground

water at the outskirts of the city of Metropolis. Following this the ground water level in

the city has decreased to a considerable level.

12. The city of Metropolis has not felt this crisis as it had another source of water.

However, due to the contaminated water of Riverdale, it became unsuitable for

drinking

13. Following this water crisis, ABC Corp. has stopped manufacturing soft drinks and is

only selling packaged drinking water across the city of Metropolis.

14. Slytherin is a pan Indiana NGO which advocates and fights for the guarantee of

fundamental rights to every citizen of Indiana.

15. Following the contamination of water in the upper course of Riverdale, Slytherin has



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12

filed a Writ Petition No. 19 of 2019 before the Supreme Court of Indiana in January,

2019 against the Duckburg& Co, under the title:

Slytherin

v.

Duckburg & Co.

16. In the above-mentioned petition Duckburg & Co. contended that the company was

conscious enough about the harmful effluents of the industry. Therefore, it had

constructed treatment plant which was subsequently damaged due to flood. While

Slytherin contended that the company should have taken steps to repair the damaged

plant immediately after the flood keeping in mind the hazardous substances being

discharged from its company.

17. Following the water crisis in the city of Metropolis Mr. Potter has filed a PIL i.e., W.P.

No 239 of 2019 against ABC Corp and the Government of Indiana in July, 2019 before

the Supreme Court of Indiana. The title of this suit is:

Mr. Potter

v.

ABC Corp

The Government of Indiana

18. Mr. Potter has contended that excessive groundwater extraction by the ABC Corp for

business purposes amounted to violation of fundamental right of residents of

Metropolis. Thus, the company has not abided by business ethics by affecting the

lives of the people of the city. Mr. Potter has also contended that it is the duty of the

Government of Indiana to look after the natural resources that Indiana has for its

people. Thus, according to Mr. Potter, Indiana Government is also liable for ABC Corp

for the excessive use of such natural resources without considering the future needs.

However, ABC Corp has contended that it has never, at any point of time, been

deviated from business ethics as during water crisis the company stopped

manufacturing soft drinks and started selling drinking water

19. Slytherin NGO after knowing about the petition filed by Mr. Potter has requested the

Supreme Court to club WP No. 19/2019 and W.P. No. 239/2019 since the matters of



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13



Department of Law



these two petitions are related to water crisis, the Supreme Court of Indiana has rd

clubbed both the petition and decided to hear the same on 23 day of February, 2020

under the title of:

1. Slytherin

2. Mr. Potter

v.

1. Duckburg & Co.

2. ABC Corp.

The Supreme Court of Indiana has framed the following issues:

a) Whether the Duckburg & Co has Absolute Liability in this case?

b) Whether excessive extraction of ground water amounted to violation of

fundamental rights?

c) Whether the Government of Indiana can be made liable under the Public Trust

Doctrine for excessive groundwater extraction by ABC Corp?

d) Whether the existing legal framework governing groundwater contamination and

excessive groundwater extraction is adequate or not?

Notes:

a) Both Duckburg & Co. and ABC Corp. are public undertaking.

b) Any similarity of this moot problem with any factual situation is purely

coincidental.

c) The Laws, Rules of Indiana are in parimateria with the laws and rules of India.

d) Participants are required to argue on the matter of maintainability of the present

petition.

e) The Laws and Regulations relating to ground water of city of Metropolis are in

parimateria with the State of Kerala.

f) Participants are free to frame other issues as well.

* * * * *

14

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