MAIMS 7th National Moot Court Competition, 2026

Maharaja Agrasen Institute of Management Studies (MAIMS) was established in 2003 by the Maharaja Agrasen Technical Education Society (MATES). It is affiliated to Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University (GGSIPU), Delhi, accredited by NAAC with an A++ grade, recognised under Section 2(f) of the UGC Act, 1956, approved by the Bar Council of India for its law programmes, and placed in the NIRF 2025 Rank Band 101-150 in the Colleges category.

The Department of Law was established in 2017 with the five-year integrated B.A. LL.B. programme, followed by B.B.A. LL.B. in 2020 and the LL.M. programme in 2022 with specialisations in ADR, IPR and Corporate Law. The Department runs a Moot Court Hall, Legal Services Clinic, ADR Cell, IPR Cell and the MAIMS Pro Bono Club in association with the Ministry of Law and Justice. The competition is organised by the MAIMS Moot Court Society, which acts as the Organising Committee.

The MAIMS 7th National Moot Court Competition, 2026 is the flagship annual event of the Department of Law, MAIMS. Launched in 2020, the competition has completed six editions and draws participation from law institutions across India. It aims to give law students a platform to demonstrate advocacy, legal research and analytical skills in a professional setting.

The competition runs across two blocks of dates. The Inaugural Ceremony is on 30 October 2026, followed by the Researcher's Test and Preliminary Rounds I and II on 31 October 2026, both in online mode. Teams that qualify travel to the MAIMS campus at Rohini, Delhi for the Quarter-Final and Semi-Final Rounds on 20 November 2026 and the Final Round and Valedictory Ceremony on 21 November 2026, all in offline mode.

English is the official language of the competition for all written and oral submissions. Robes and collar bands are prohibited; the dress code for all ceremonies and rounds is courtroom formals.

• Open to all students duly enrolled in a full-time three-year LL.B. programme or a five-year integrated LL.B. (Hons.) programme from any institution or university recognised by the Bar Council of India or any other equivalent competent authority.
• Each team shall consist of exactly three members. This number cannot be modified under any circumstances.
• Two members are designated Speakers and the third is designated Researcher. A Speaker may never assume the Researcher's role, and the Researcher may never address the Court.
• Team composition as declared at registration is fixed and cannot be altered once the Organising Committee receives the registration form.
• Where a member becomes unavailable due to a genuine emergency after registration, the team may seek prior written permission to substitute a member before the first oral round, or to proceed with two members subject to the conditions in the Rulebook.
• Each team is allotted a unique Team Code after registration closes, and must use only that code, with no institutional name or logo, in all further communication.

Teams confirm participation by filling the online Registration Form on or before 11:59 PM IST on 10 September 2026. The form requires the institution name, details of the Primary Contact Person, both Speakers and the Researcher, the mode and transaction ID of payment, a copy of the payment receipt, and an NOC authorised by the Head of Department, Dean or Director of the institution.

• Registration fee: Rs 5,000 per team.
• Early Bird registration fee: Rs 4,500 per team, for teams that registered and paid on or before 20 August 2026. This window has now closed.
• Accommodation (optional): Rs 3,500 per team, over and above the registration fee, for teams qualifying for the offline rounds. Teams wishing to avail accommodation must intimate the Organising Committee by 11:59 PM on 3 November 2026. Rooms are allotted strictly gender-wise at the discretion of the Organising Committee.
• Last date for payment of the registration fee: 11:59 PM on 10 September 2026.
• All fees, once paid, are non-refundable under all circumstances.

Payment is by NEFT, IMPS or RTGS to Account Holder: MAIMS Cultural Society (MACS), Account Number 604202010000826, IFSC UBIN0560421, Union Bank of India, Sector 22, Rohini, New Delhi 110086. Teams must upload the UTR or reference number and a screenshot of the payment in the registration form itself. Confirmation of registration and Team Code allotment will be emailed by 15 September 2026.

• Preliminary Rounds I and II (31 October 2026, online): every team argues twice, once for each side. The best eight teams advance.
• Quarter-Final Round (20 November 2026, offline): the best eight teams compete; the top four advance on a knock-out basis.
• Semi-Final Round (20 November 2026, offline): the best four teams compete; the top two advance to the Final.
• Final Round (21 November 2026, offline): the two finalists each argue once for the side allotted by draw of lots. The Winner is decided on a knock-out basis on oral round scores.

Oral rounds are marked out of 100 across five criteria of 20 marks each: knowledge and application of law and facts; ingenuity and ability to answer questions; style, poise, courtesy and demeanour; organisation and flow of arguments; and reference to the memorial. Scorecards are not disclosed during the competition and are released 30 days after the Valedictory Ceremony.

The moot proposition, Odysseus v. State of Arya, has been curated by Dr. Anant Vijay Maria, Advocate-on-Record, Supreme Court of India. It concerns a prosecution arising from a relationship between two adolescents separated in age by less than one year, formed through an online student collaboration platform, and raises questions under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012, the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 and the Information Technology Act, 2000.

Four issues have been framed:

• Whether the prosecution has established the alleged offences beyond reasonable doubt.
• Whether the POCSO Act, insofar as it criminalises voluntary romantic relationships between adolescents separated in age by less than one year, violates Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution or requires a constitutional close-in-age exception.
• Whether the platform operator incurred statutory or common law liability for failing to act on algorithmic safety alerts and anonymous complaints, having regard to the Information Technology Act, 2000, the Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code Rules, 2021 and the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023.
• Whether the mandatory reporting obligations under Sections 19 and 21 of the POCSO Act admit any exception where disclosures are made during confidential psychological counselling, having regard to professional ethics, the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017 and Articles 14 and 21.

Participants must adhere strictly to these issues, though sub-issues may be added.

Each team must prepare memorials for both sides. Soft copies for both sides must be emailed in a single mail to mootcourtsociety@maims.ac.in in both .pdf and .doc formats by 11:59 PM on 10 October 2026, with the subject line reading Memorials (Team Code) - MAIMS 7th NMCC'26. A penalty of 1 mark applies for any other format or for multiple files; 1 mark per hour per side applies for delay; memorials more than 12 hours late are not evaluated. Teams qualifying for the offline rounds must submit six spiral-bound hard copies of each side's memorial by 08:15 AM on 20 November 2026.

• Cover page: blue for Petitioner, red for Respondent, with the Team Code in the top right corner suffixed P or R.
• Paper size A4, Times New Roman, font size 12, line spacing 1.5, justified body text, 1 inch margins on all sides.
• Footnotes in Times New Roman size 10, spacing 1.0, Bluebook 20th Edition citation style. Substantive or speaking footnotes are prohibited.
• Page limits: Statement of Facts 2, Statement of Jurisdiction 1, Issues 1, Summary of Arguments 2, Pleadings/Arguments Advanced 24, Prayer 1.
• Any identity mark other than the Team Code results in immediate disqualification.

Memorials are marked out of 100 across evidence of original thought, knowledge of law and facts, proper and articulate analysis, structure and citation, and extent and use of research. AI-generated content must not exceed 15% and the plagiarism similarity index must not exceed 15%; a valid plagiarism and AI-content report must accompany each memorial.

The Researcher's Test is conducted online at 08:00 AM on 31 October 2026. Only the Researcher may attempt it. It consists of 50 objective questions for a maximum of 100 marks in 60 minutes, with 2 marks for each correct answer and a deduction of 0.25 marks for each wrong answer. Attempting the test is mandatory for every team; a team that fails to appear is awarded zero. The Best Researcher is determined on the aggregate score in this test.

Clarifications on the moot proposition must be sought by email at mootcourtsociety@maims.ac.in by 11:59 PM on 20 September 2026. Clarifications will be released to all teams by 23 September 2026. Requests received after the cut-off will not be entertained, and no member of the Organising Committee will address clarifications personally.