How to draft memorial and presentation of moot court problem

Law students have to draft memorials for various moot court cases. Here are useful tips and strategies on preparation required for drafting memorial and presentation of moot court problem.

What is a Moot Court?
Artificial courts for the students of law are called ‘Moot Court’. Its is a great Method of learning law and legal skills that require the students to analyze and argue both sides of a hypothetical legal issue using procedures. Participating in ‘Moot Court’ requires great skill and lot of research work.

Memorial Content Structure

• Cover Page
• Table of Contents
• Index of Authorities
• List of Abbreviations
• Statement of Jurisdiction (give legal provision)
• Statement of Facts (given in problem)
• Statement of Issues
• Summary of Arguments
• Arguments Advanced
• Prayer

Assignments / Projects

Moot Problem

1. Mr. Satish Ahuja is an Indian film writer, director and producer and is also the Managing Director of Freedom Films Pvt. Ltd. He is ranked amongst the top filmmakers of the country and is also said to be one of the highest paid directors in India. He is known for making films on issues of social relevance and is acclaimed to be one of the best directors when it comes to portraying sensitive themes on-screen. On May 15, 2019, Mr. Satish publically announced that he will be making his next film on the issue of homosexuality where he would show the real-life challenges of homosexual couples in India, which will be releasing in the year 2021.

2. Mr. Satish then signed Amrinder Rao and Gulam Khan, for the male lead roles and Shefali Tyrewala for the female lead in the film. It was speculated that this film, with the highest paid director and critically acclaimed actors would be the biggest grosser of Zollywood in the year 2021. Mr. Satish and his team including the actors did
extensive research on this issue for the next six months and the shooting began in December, 2019. In May, 2020 an online podcast interviewed Mr. Satish on what he intends to put forth in his upcoming film and whether the title of the film has been decided. Mr. Satish replied, “My next movie shall be called “Happy and Gay” and it
shall explore and display the socio-cultural intolerance that homosexual couples face in the society of Zindustan.

3. The interview went viral on the internet. The snippets of it were displayed on every leading news channel, and soon several socio-cultural groups and religious organizations were seen issuing statements against the film, arguing that, the film is an insult to their religious sentiments and, an entertainment piece glorifying issues such as homosexuality, in any form is intolerable. Karan Virani, a member of Jai Zindustan, a socio-cultural group, issued a statement that ‘Hindu religion which is practiced by many in Zinduastan, has no place for homosexuality and that no filmmaker can be allowed to hurt their community’s religious sentiments, and that if the
film is released, the cast and crew involved in this movie will face serious consequences. Amir Sheikh, a Maulvi, issued a Fatwa that saying, that the film is an insult to Islam, another religion practiced in Zindustan, and if the film is promoted and released, the film-maker and all actors should be ready for any adverse consequences at the hands of the community and nation at large.

4. Despite resistance from religious groups, Mr. Satish continued with the shooting of his film and was seen quoting in multiple interviews that “the film does not hurt any religious sentiments, neither does it target any particular religion, and that religious groups should first watch the movie before making such remarks.”

5. The shooting of the movie was completed in early November, 2020 and the film was submitted to the Central Board of Film Certification (hereinafter referred to as CBFC) on December 26, 2020. Immediately, the opposition from religious groups again began to pour in and they demanded a nation-wide ban of the film.

6. On January 20, 2021, CBFC notified that Happy and Gay has been denied certification on the grounds that ‘religious sensibilities may be offended since the film’s content was vulgar and obscene’ and gave Mr. Satish a period of fifteen days to present his case before the CBFC. On November 15, 2020, Freedom Films Pvt. Ltd. had already released the online trailer of Being Gay on their website seeking the opinion of public in this regard. Within the next two hours of its uploading, the video was shared by around 5, 00,000 people from all religions and gender, wherein 75% of the viewers were of the opinion, that, the movie was pro-society and favored its release. On the other hand, protests against the release of the film started occurring. On December 30, 2020, during one such protest in the state of Khattar Pradesh, the protestors against the movie turned violent resulting in clashes and several people getting injured. On February 6, 2021, Mr. Satish appeared before CBFC to defend his film where he presented the argument that the movie did not hurt the ideologies of any religion and that the physical intimacy between homosexual couples shown in his movie was very less as compared to those shown in movies that have previously been certified and cleared by the CBFC. He further pleaded to the CBFC to consider the public opinion on his film on his website. However, CBFC rejected all contentions of Mr. Satish and notified on February 10, 2021 that ‘The film ‘Happy and Gay’ has been denied Certification by the CBFC and shall not be exhibited in any theatres or online platforms across Zindustan and that the trailer should be taken down from the website of Freedom Films Pvt. Ltd. with immediate effect. Reasons stated were:

a. Depicting physical intimacy between homosexual couples may deprave the moral standards of the Indian society and corrupt the minds of the audience and
hence is obscene.
b. Since homosexuality is disapproved by all major religions in India, its depiction in any manner whatsoever amounts to vulgarity
c. The online public opinion cannot be a yardstick for Certification and CBFC is under no liability to consider the public opinion in its decision process.
d. Since the film has been denied certification, the release of its trailer or any advertising material on online platforms is illegal and should be immediately withdrawn.

7. On December 31, 2020, Mr. Chavan Agnihotri, Chief Minister of the state of Khattar Pradesh issued a statement that ‘in light of the violent incidents that have occurred due to the film Happy and Gay, the film shall be banned in the state of Khattar Pradesh, even if it is cleared by the CBFC. The Minister further said that his Government is under constitutional duty to protect the culture, beliefs, life and property of general public and hence the security of his state and of its people comes before any film or any film- maker’s rights.’ Few other Chief Ministers were also quoted endorsing the views of Mr. Chavan Agnihotri. On February 12, 2021, Mr. Satish publically announced that he would appeal against the order of CBFC and would not remove the trailer from the website since the jurisdiction ofthe CBFC did not extend to the content on internet and he was free to upload any part of the film or the trailer on the internet. He further expressed his anguish and protest against the decision of CBFC saying that the decision was arbitrary, unreasonable and biased.

8. Mr. Satish appealed before the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal (hereinafter referred to as FCAT) against the decision of the CBFC, on February 21, 2021. FCAT, after hearing the matter upheld the decision of the CBFC on April 22, 2021. The Tribunal also directed Freedom Films and Mr. Satish to remove the trailer from the website since it was illegal to exhibit an uncertified movie or anything related to it, on any media whatsoever. In the meantime, on February 18, 2021, Karan Virani, the member of Jai Zindustan, filed a FIR against Mr. Satish Ahuja, Mr. Amrinder Rao and Mr. Gulam Khan and Ms. Shefali Tyrewala, under Section 292 of the Zindustan Penal Code, 1860.

9. On May 15, 2021, Mr. Satish thus filed an Appeal before the Zindustan High Court against the order of the FCAT, being in violation of his Fundamental rights with a request to issue directions to the concerned State Governments to not ban the screening of his film in their respective states. In the same petition, he also requested the Court to quash the FIR filed by Mr. Karan Virani, and the fatwa issued against him and others of his team stating that his movie does not intend to hurt the religious sentiments of any community whatsoever. The High Court admitted the petition and the matter has now been listed for hearing.

Law in force in India is applicable for the argument. The teams are expected to present arguments on the following issues:

• 1. Whether the order of FCAT, denying certification to the film ‘Happy and Gay’, and directing the removal of the trailer from the website of Freedom Films is arbitrary and violative of fundamental rights of the Appellant?
• 2. Whether the Appellant is liable for selling and promoting obscenity and hurting religious sentiments of various communities through the film ‘Happy and Gay’?
• 3. Whether the action of State Governments to ban screening of the concerned film in their respective states, unconstitutional and ultra vires of the Constitution of Zindustan?

Note: Law of Zindustan Penal Code 1860, Zindustan Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 and Constitution of Zindustan is parimateria with the Indian Penal Code, 1860, Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 and The Constitution of India, 1950

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