Shed elitist approach, Karnataka governor tells aspiring advocates

India had not devoted itself to ensuring justice to its poor, minority groups and women, governor Hans Raj Bhardwaj said on Thursday while inaugurating the national moot court competition organised by the School of Law, Christ University.

“Lawyers should shed the elitist approach. They should not think about making money. Lawyers should work to provide justice to the poor and deprived. Then there will be a Utopian society,” said Bhardwaj, who was also a former Supreme Court advocate and a Union law minister.

A total of 25 teams from various law colleges from across the country are part of the moot court competition. Some of the participating colleges include ILS Law College, Pune; Sastra University, Tamil Nadu; Amity Law School, Delhi; MS Ramaiah College, Bangalore; and National Law Institute University, Bhopal.
Some of the legal luminaries who will judge the budding lawyers are Udaya Holla, senior advocate, Karnataka high court, and Shanti Bhushan, senior advocate, Supreme Court.

“The objective of this exercise is to test and develop advocacy skills amongst students of law and give them an insight into the legal profession,” said Father Benny Thomas, director, School of Law, Christ University.

In a moot court competition, teams argue over a fictitious case before practising professionals, academics and eminent jurists acting as judges. “The fictitious case in this competition is based on the recent amendments to the Information Technology Act, 2000, in regard to regulation of content on the Internet, and evolving position of our Constitution with respect to the fundamental right of freedom of speech and expression,” said Thomas.

Ashok Harnahalli, advocate general of Karnataka, was also present at the event.