THE 1ST NUJS-SAM FINTECH MOOT COURT COMPETITION, 2023

It is with the greatest pleasure the NUJS Moot Court Society (MCS) shares the successful completion of the very first Fintech Moot Court Competition hosted on the 5th & 6th of August, 2023 by the WBNUJS Kolkata (NUJS) in collaboration with M/s. Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co. (SAM) – an organisation with whom NUJS shares one of its longest and most esteemed relationships.

With the rapid strides being made in technology, and its prolific interface with virtually every aspect of one’s life, – it was utterly topical and timely for the two aforementioned premier Indian institutions to come together to launch a mooting exercise truly apace with the times.

As hoped and expected, – the competition, a first of its kind, elicited an overwhelming response from among the best and the brightest law undergraduates across the country, of whom eighteen representative teams entered the competition proper. As the battle of ideas, imagination, wit and ingenuity progressed, the two teams that fought it through to the finals were NUALS, Kochi and Christ University, Bengaluru. While NUALS took home the Runners-Up trophy, Christ University were adjudged the winners, with Mr. Divyansh Morolia (NLIU, Bhopal) being adjudged the Best Oralist, and Team NLIU Jodhpur’s Memorials being adjudged the best in both, the Petitioner as well as the Respondent categories. The winners in each category were additionally awarded an internship by SAM.

The competition even in its very first year, succeeded in setting a brilliantly high qualitative benchmark of academic rigour and advocacy skills, – thanks in no small measure to the efforts of our problem drafter, Mr. Neel Mitra (Partner, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati) and the superlative panels of carefully curated judges from amongst the crème de la crème of eminent practitioners, jurists, industry experts and academics across India. Our special thanks to luminaries such as, Hon’ble Mr. Justice (Retd.) Alam, Sr. Adv. Mr. Rajshekar Rao, Sr. Adv. Gopal Shankarnarayan, Ms. Poornima Sampath (Sr. Vice-President, Tata Digital), and Ms. Shilpa Mankar Ahluwalia (Partner & Head of Fintech, SAM) who kindly presided over the Finals Bench.

That said, no campaign is ever won without its unsung heroes, the intrepid foot-soldiers, – and our heartfelt thanks to each and every Office Bearer of the NUJS MCS, Organising Committee Member, student volunteer, and every single functionary of multiple university administrative departments, without whose unflagging enthusiasm, unstinted support, efforts, and seamless tem-work, much of this would never have come to be.

Our sincerest gratitude however, goes to our Hon’ble Vice-Chancellor Sir, Prof. Dr. N.K. Chakrabarti for his leadership and support in helping turn this idea into reality, and to our Faculty Advisor, Dr. Paramita DasGupta for being there with us every step of the way.

In closing, we take this opportunity to once again thank and congratulate one and all for contributing to the immense success of this, our maiden venture within this domain, and in continuation of our collaboration with M/s. Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co., – we look forward to bringing to all our future Advocates many more such enriching learning experiences in the years to come.