Pt. Kanhaiya Lal Misra 2nd National Moot Court Competition 2026 at Shambhunath Institute of Law, Prayagraj [Oct 24-25; Cash Prizes Worth Rs 1.3 Lakh; Register by Oct 2]

Shambhunath Institute of Law (SIL), Jhalwa, Prayagraj is hosting the Pt. Kanhaiya Lal Misra 2nd National Moot Court Competition, 2026 on 24 and 25 October 2026. The competition is organised under the auspices of the Pt. Kanhaiya Lal Misra Moot Court Chair by the institute’s Organising Committee, and follows the first edition held in 2022.

The competition is named in honour of the late Pt. Kanhaiya Lal Misra, a jurist and lawyer whose work the institute records as a continuing influence on the legal profession. SIL is approved by the Bar Council of India and affiliated to Prof. Rajendra Singh (Rajju Bhaiya) University, Prayagraj. Law schools, universities and institutions from across India are invited to send teams.

Oral and written submissions are in English only. The format comprises two preliminary rounds followed by three advanced rounds: Quarter-Finals, Semi-Finals and the Final. A formal dress code applies, being a black coat, white shirt, black tie and black formal trousers or a black executive skirt with black formal shoes.

The official proposition is Dr. Vedansh Mohan & Anr. v. Union of Indiana, a reference to a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court of Indiana. The facts are fictional, and the laws of the Union of Indiana are stated to be pari materia with those of the Union of India.

The problem turns on the National Prevention of Terrorist Activities Act, 1967 as amended in 2021, and raises five issues that teams must argue in full and from both sides:

• Whether Section 35, which lets the executive designate an individual a terrorist without prior judicial determination or a pre-decisional hearing, violates Articles 14, 19 and 21.
• Whether the review mechanism under Section 36, including the composition of the Review Committee and its reliance on sealed-cover material, satisfies procedural fairness, natural justice and the requirement of an effective remedy.
• Whether Sections 25 and 43 encroach on the States’ domain over Public Order and Police under Entries 1 and 2 of List II, and if so whether that is saved by Entry 1 or Entry 9 of List I.
• Whether a designation resting substantially on protected speech, academic writing and legal representation is an unreasonable restriction under Article 19(2).
• Whether the freezing of assets under Section 25, pending an undetermined designation, is punitive or anticipatory and whether it sits with the presumption of innocence as an incident of Article 21.

• Only regular students enrolled in a five-year integrated undergraduate law programme or a three-year graduate law programme may register.
• Each team consists of two speakers and one researcher, and must notify which member holds which role. A speaker cannot be swapped for the researcher, or the reverse, except on an application to the Organising Committee.
• Only one team per law college, university, institute or school will be entertained. If two teams register from the same institution, the team that first submits the letter signed by the Head or Dean is registered.
• Cross participation is allowed, meaning a team drawn from two different institutions. The one-team-per-institution rule does not apply to a cross-participation team.

Teams must register through the online registration form on or before 2 October 2026, 11:59 p.m. IST. The registration fee is Rs 3,500 per team. Payment is made by bank transfer or UPI to the Shambhunath Institute of Law account at Union Bank of India, Jhalwa branch, account number 630701010050083, IFSC UBIN0563072, UPI 59014801@ubin. The competition document also refers to an additional fee where applicable for teams opting for accommodation and meals.

A scan or screenshot of the bank transfer or UPI receipt must be uploaded within the registration form itself. Registered teams receive a Team Code by email, which must be quoted in all later correspondence.

Separately, by the same deadline of 2 October 2026, 11:59 p.m. IST, teams must email the following to mcs@silalld.in: a scanned copy of the registration form, a scanned copy of the college ID, a scanned copy of the Aadhaar card, a scanned copy of the approval form and a printout of the payment receipt.

Teams must not display the name or logo of their institution in any communication with the organisers or in the material submitted for the competition. Non-adherence attracts penalties or disqualification.

Each registered team submits one memorial for the petitioner and one for the respondent. Soft copies go to memorials.nmc26@gmail.com by 17 October 2026, 11:59 p.m. IST, in PDF format, named by Team Code, with the subject line ‘Memorial Submission - (Team Code)’. Four hard copies, two per side, are handed in at the registration desk before the preliminary round on 24 October 2026, and the hard and soft copies must be identical.

• Maximum 40 pages excluding the cover page, printed one side only on A4 and spiral bound.
• Cover page in BLUE for the petitioner and RED for the respondent, carrying the Team Code in the upper right corner.
• Main text in Times New Roman 12, 1.5 line spacing, one inch margins. Footnotes in Times New Roman 10, single spacing.
• Citations follow The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation, 21st edition.
• Statement of Facts not exceeding 2 pages, Summary of Arguments not exceeding 3 pages, Arguments Advanced not exceeding 25 pages and Prayer not exceeding 1 page.
• A penalty of half a mark per hour per side applies to late soft copies, and the same to late hard copies.

Memorials are marked out of 100 across presentation of facts, ingenuity and logical reasoning, interpretation of law, extent and use of authority, relief sought, format and citation, quality of language and adherence to the guidelines.

The Researcher’s Test is held on 24 October 2026 and consists of multiple-choice questions on the moot proposition and the relevant legal provisions. Only the researcher of each team may sit for it, it is conducted once, and failure to appear results in disqualification from that award.

Each team argues twice in the preliminary rounds, once for the petitioner and once for the respondent, with 20 minutes per team. One speaker must speak for at least 8 minutes and at most 12, and every team reserves 2 minutes for rebuttal and sur-rebuttal. The top eight teams on the combined score of both preliminary rounds and the memorials advance to the Quarter-Finals.

The Quarter-Final rounds are elimination rounds of 20 minutes per team, judged only on the aggregate score of the two speakers in that round. The Semi-Finals run to 30 minutes per team and the Final to 45 minutes per team, each judged only on that round’s speaker scores. Oral arguments are confined to the issues disclosed in the proposition, electronic gadgets are not permitted during the rounds, and no participant may sit in as audience in any oral round. Teams may submit a compendium of cases, articles and statutory provisions in support.

Registered teams opting for accommodation and meals are housed within the college premises from the evening of 23 October to 25 October 2026. Any team extending its stay pays additional charges for the extension. Teams must comply with the host institution’s discipline rules and are advised to remain within the campus during the stay. No travelling allowance or dearness allowance is provided by the college.

Clarifications on the proposition may be mailed to mcs@silalld.in no later than 4 October 2026 with the subject ‘Request for Clarifications’, and will be answered by 9 October 2026 through a clarification note circulated to all registered teams.

Plagiarism and scouting in any form are prohibited and attract disqualification. During the oral rounds teams must not disclose their own names or the name of their institution. The Organising Committee reserves the right to amend the rules and the schedule at any stage.