Welcome to the live blog of the 14th Checkmate National Moot Court Competition 2025! We are thrilled to bring you the latest updates and insights from this prestigious event, held in collaboration with SCC Online as the Knowledge Partner and SCC Times as the Media Partner. With top law students from across the country battling it out in the courtroom, this competition promises to be an exciting showcase of legal prowess and advocacy skills. Stay tuned for live updates, expert commentary, and a front-row seat to all the action as the teams compete for the coveted title!
12th February, 2025
SCC Briefing for Participants: 11:00 A.M to 12:00 P.M
As part of the Knowledge Partnership, SCC Online organized an orientation session to familiarize participants and attendees with the platform’s various search tools and features. These included advanced search options such as Boolean operators, field-specific searches, and the ability to save and organize search results for future reference.
The session demonstrated how to access and navigate SCC Online’s extensive collection of Indian case law, encompassing cases from the Supreme Court of India, High Courts, Tribunals, and foreign case law cited in Indian court decisions. Attendees also explored the platform’s comprehensive collection of Indian legislation, including the Indian Constitution, Central Acts, and State Acts. They learned how to search for specific legislation and browse by topic or jurisdiction.
Additionally, the session covered SCC Online’s collection of legal commentary, including articles, treatises, and journals. Attendees were shown how to access these valuable resources to deepen their understanding of complex legal issues.
The session concluded with an engaging Q&A segment, allowing attendees to clarify any points of confusion. The goal of the session was to provide a thorough understanding of how to leverage the SCC Online platform to enhance legal research and analysis. Feedback was gathered from the attendees, concluding an informative session that empowered legal professionals and researchers with the tools to optimize their research and preparations for the moot.
14th February, 2025 | Day-1
10:00: The OC along with the other volunteers are all set to host the participating teams
10:30: The air sparks with anticipation as the venue starts to fill with team members and students. The OC begins with registration of the teams.
10:40: Participants are lined up for the offline registration.
11:00: Moving forward all the teams, accompanied by their Team Representative, gather for the Draw of Lots.
11:05: The Convenors take a roll call to ensure everyone’s present for the Draw of Lots.
11:08: For the draw of lots, one member of each group is required to pick up a chit. Wishing all the teams a good luck!
11:15: The OC has wrapped up the draw for the preliminary rounds. The fixtures for the preliminary rounds are out!
11:15: The team spirit is high as we move forward toward the memorial exchange.
The details of the Octa Round: 11:30 to 12:30
11:25: The judges for the rounds are distinguished legal experts in their respective disciplines and are here to evaluate each team’s comprehension and command over the law. The court clerks escort them in the court rooms.
11.29: The court clerks getting the teams familiarized with the rules and regulations one last time before the ball gets rolling!
11.30: The judges finally arrive in their respective courtrooms and take their seats. The participants are all ready to showcase their legal knowledge. Wishing everyone the very best.
11:33:
CR 8 – The first speaker from TC-09 gets ready to fight his way through!
CR 5 – The proceedings have begun and the petitioners have started with their arguments.
11:35:
CR 4 –The judges have begun to grill the speakers.
CR 5 – The petitioners starts of the proceedings by stating the facts of the case and issues. It states his arguments and reasons why their client is the ‘aggrieved’.
CR 7 –The judges grill Speaker 1 from TC-13 as the latter tries to keep his calm and answer the questions.
12:00:
CR 6– Even though the time allotted to P S2 is over the judges allow an extension for the speaker to summarize the contention!
CR 4 –Judges guide the teams to further, be sure about their proposition and arguments.
12:15:
CR 3 – The respondents have answered the questions put forward by the petitioners articulately with which the round comes to an end!
CR 5 – The judges are pointing out the contradictions in the respondents’ submissions.
12:25:
CR 6 – With the final answer from the respondents, the round comes to an end.
CR 12 – With a tough competition from each side, the rounds come to an end!
12:30: The rounds have come to an end.
12:35: Declaration of results and draw of lots for Quarter Final Round.
LUNCH- 13:00 – 14:00
QUARTER FINAL ROUND (14:15-15:30)
14:00- The court rooms are all set for Quarter final Round
14:15– All the court rooms are in session with the arrival of judges.
14:20-
CR 5 – The court is in session as the Speaker 1 from TC- 22 proceeds by raising the issues.
CR 7 – Five minutes into the proceedings the judges have started counter questioning!
14:45-
CR 6 – Followed by the Prosecutions prayer, the counsel for TC-05 begins their issues.
CR 8 – The judge asks for the meaning of aggrieved and some reference for the same.
15:22:
CR 5 – Petitioner proceeds with the prayer.
CR 6 – The Proceedings have ended.
CR 7 – After a strong rebuttal round, the proceedings have ended.
15:30- All the court rooms are adjourned
15: 45: Declaration of Results and draw of lots
15:50: The wait is finally over and the results of the quarter final round has been declared. CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THE TEAMS and ALL THE VERY BEST FOR THE SEMI FINALS!!. The fixtures have been announced! And this will be followed by the memorial exchange….
SEMI FINAL ROUND (16:00 – 17:30)
16:00– Judges are being directed towards their respective Court rooms.
16:05:
CR 1 – The adrenaline rush in the room is high as the judges enter the courtroom.
CR 2 – One can feel it in the air that this will be a nail biting competition. All the best to the teams present! The semi finals kick start with speaker 1 approaching the dais.
16:30:
CR 2 – Speaker 1 from Prosecution wraps up his contention and requests speaker 2 to proceed with the next issues in line.
16:45:
CR 1 – As the judges leave no opportunity to grill Speaker 2 from Prosecution side, the counsel fumbles in responding to the judges’ ruthless questions.
CR 2– Even though the judges do not seem convinced with the arguments, the speaker is determined nevertheless to state her points and keeps her calm as she continues with her contention with confidence.
17:22:
CR 1 – As the respondents wrap up their arguments, the teams are escorted outside for judges review discussion.
17:30: The court rooms are adjourned. The judges have submitted the score sheet. With this, the Semi Finals Round comes to an end.
17:35: The moment is almost here! The venue is slowly getting filled with an excited audience.
17:38: The participants can be seen nervous and excited to know the results of the semi-final rounds and cannot wait to bear the fruit of their hard work!
17:40: And, here we go! We have the finalists of the Checkmate 2025 – 14th National Moot Court Competition, 2025 are TC- 02 (P) and TC-08 (D) Congratulation teams!!! Special congratulations to all the teams who made it so far, your efforts were truly commendable.
15th February, 2025 | Day-2
FINAL ROUND (9:30 am to 11:00 am)
09:00: Organizing Committee is ready for the final round with court clerks (Mr. Keshav and Ms. Amrita) setting their timer bells.
09:15: The judges for the final round were welcomed by the Principal, Army Institute of Law, Mohali along with the Registrar, Army Institute of Law, Mohali.
09:32: The Dignitaries enter the Auditorium.
09:35: Ms. Srishti, the Organising Committee member, introduces the dignitaries and welcomes them.
The dignitaries for the event are as follows:
- Hon’ble Justice Mr. R.K. Garg – Judge, Punjab and Haryana High Court
- Deepa Singh – Advocate, Punjab and Haryana High Court
- Gautam Dutt – Advocate, Punjab and Haryana High Court
09:40: Ms. Srishti elucidates on the Moot Proposition in a detailed fashion and concludes with a briefing of the facts.
09:41: The Final Round of the 14th National Moot Court Competition commences with TC-02 as Prosecution and TC-08 as Defence.
09:42: Speaker 1 of the Petitioner team has sought permission to approach the bench.
09:44: Speaker 1 has started stating the facts of the present case after seeking permission of the bench.
09:47: Speaker 1 has started addressing Issue 1 and contends that the suicide note left behind by Satvi should be considered as her dying declaration.
09:50: The Judge poses a question that can a suicide note be treated as a dying declaration?
09:55: The Speaker moves on to address the question with help of Section 26(a) of Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 and tries to apply the same to the facts of the case.
10:00: Here the grilling starts with Judges not ready to admit suicide note as dying declaration.
10:02: The Speaker cites references to the case of Khushal Rao v. State of Bombay, (1957).
10:05: The Judge asks to elaborate on authenticity of suicide note in the case at hand.
10:08: The Speaker cites references to the Surajdeo Ojha v. State of Bihar judgement wherein it was held that merely because a dying declaration does contain the details as to the occurrence, it is not to be rejected.
10:15: The Judge poses a question regarding state of mind of Satvi while writing the note to which the speaker replies.
10:20: The Judge poses a question regarding causation of death.
10:23: Speaker 1 states that the time factor is not always a criterion in determining whether the piece of evidence is properly included within ‘circumstances of transaction.
10:30: The Speaker 1 concludes the arguments.
10:32: The Speaker 2 has started addressing Issue 2 and 3 and contents that Harsha, Medha, and Aditya are liable for Criminal Intimidation and Harassment.
10:35: The Speaker cites reference to Hajee Abdul Rehman v. Gulam Nabi to contend that before an offence of criminal timidation can be made out, it must be established that the accused had an intention to cause alarm to the complainant.
10:38: The Judge poses a question regarding criteria of an explicit threat under Section 351 of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.
10:40: The Speaker states that the answers to the same. The Speaker has been granted an extra minute to summarise the arguments for Issue 2 and 3.
10:41: Speaker 2 of the Prosecution team has moved onto the prayer.
10:42: Speaker 1 of the Defence has sought the permission to approach the bench.
10:43: The Speaker states that the court cannot solely rely upon the suicide note left by the person who commits suicide, to jump to any decision or conclusion for the guilt of the person whose name is written on a note for the offence of abetment of suicide.
10:45: The Speaker states the landmark case of Laxmi v. Om Prakash & Ors.
10: 50: The speaker also cites reference to the State of Haryana v. Mange Ram.
10:52: The judge poses a question regarding prosecution’s assertion of criminal intimidation under Section 351(1).
10:55: The speaker answers that the prosecution’s assertion of criminal intimidation under Section 351(1), against the defendants is absolutely untenable.
10:57: Speaker 2 of the Defence team has sought the permission of the Court to approach the bench.
10:59: The Speaker states that the statute explicitly states in the proviso that no agreement “except” an agreement to commit an offence shall amount to criminal conspiracy.
11:05: The Judge poses the question on assertion that Harsha, Medha, and Aditya engaged in criminal conspiracy leading to tragic suicide of Satvi.
11:07: The Speaker states that There is no evidence to suggest that, at the time of forming the team, there was any discussion or plan to harm Satvi, either physically or emotionally.
11:09: The Speaker cites the case of Ramesh Kumar v. State of Chhattisgarh, laid down the parameters on what would be constituted to be an act of instigation.
11:11: The Speaker 2 has moved on to the prayer.
11:12: The Speaker 1 of the Prosecutionr team has sought the permission to rebut the Respondent’s arguments.
11:17: The Speaker 1 of the Defence team in the surrebuttal addresses the arguments raised during rebuttal.
11:25: The Court is adjourned.
AWARD CEREMONY (11:30 AM)
Winners along with cash prize of Rs. 36,000: TC-02: Nishita Gupta, Richa Parekh and Aarushi Tanwar from Symbiosis Law School, Pune
Runner’s up along with cash prize of Rs. 30,000: TC-08: Hargun Singh, Sehaj Kaur and Shaurya Walia from Amity University, Punjab
Best Speaker along with cash prize of Rs. 12,000: TC-22: Priyamvada Gupta from Maharashtra National Law University, Aurangabad
Second Best Speaker along with cash prize of Rs. 8,000: TC-07: Shrishti Garg from Maharashtra National Law University, Nagpur
Best Memorial along with cash prize of Rs. 12000: TC-14: Dr. B.R. Ambedkar National Law University, Sonepat
Second Best Memorial along with cash prize of Rs. 9000: TC-04: Faculty of Law, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi
11:32 A.M: The Principal offers token of gratitude to esteemed judges.
11:35 A.M: The Event Report is delivered by the Co-Convener, Moot Court Society, Mr. Pushpam Singh.
11:37 A.M: The Vote of Thanks to SCC is delivered by Ms. Srishti.
11:40 A.M: The event officially concludes.
