The team from NLU Delhi was asked to withdraw from the South Asia qualifying rounds of the Oxford Price Media Law moot, which started yesterday, after allegations of having gained an unfair advantage over other teams surfaced.
The South Asia rounds began yesterday (21 November) and will conclude on Sunday (24 November) at NLU Delhi. The home team was disqualified only hours before the start of the moot,according to a discussion on Legally India’s forum.
A member of the moot’s organising faculty sent an emailed statement to Legally India, which noted: “When certain information concerning the NLU Delhi team participating in the 2013 South Asia Rounds of the Price Media Law Moot Court Competition was brought to our attention, the University and the Price Administration of the South Asia Rounds acted immediately since we are committed to upholding the highest standards of transparency and accountability.
“It was found that the team had unauthorised access to materials from last year’s (2012) competition and that this was technically a violation of the rules of the Competition. Therefore, the NLU Delhi team is not a part of this year’s South Asia Rounds.”
An anonymous email sent to Moot Court Societies (MCC) of various participating law schools alleged that there could have been a leak of information in a previous year of the moot’s qualifying rounds, calling it “the most balatant [sic] murder of ethics and principles I have ever witnessed”.
It is understood that an internal inquiry regarding the allegations is currently ongoing and will likely conclude within a week. Faculty members declined to comment further pending the outcome of the inquiry.
The college had been the host for the last two South Asia qualifying rounds for the Mooting Premier League’s Tier 2 world class moot that is held annually in Oxford.NLU Delhi won the world rounds of the moot last year.
