FIRST INTRA ROUND MOOT PROBLEM, AUGUST 2018

1. The mystic lands of Nagarbhavi were characterized by the harmony with which various
diverse communities lived in the kingdom for thousands of years. Due to invasions from
different parts of the world, communities living in Nagarbhavi practiced different
religions, spoke different languages and even had different cultures and distinct
rituals.While all communities in Nagarbhavi were centered around religion, their civil
laws were governed by a common set of unwritten rules. Even though the communities
lived in tranquility with one another and had peaceful economic relationships, inter-
community marriages, though not forbidden by law, were not encouraged.

2. A few centuries ago, Nagarbhavi had been colonized by the Great Kingdom of Wakanda.
Draining the country of its natural resources, the Emperors of Wakanda had almost
enslaved the entire population of Nagarbhavi by following a policy of divide and rule.
This policy ensured that segments of the populations were continuously engaged in
fighting amongst themselves and viewed each other as the enemy, instead of the
Wakandian empire. This allowed the Wakandian overlords to take over the
administration of the country. To facilitate easier administration, the Wakandian Empire
appointed governor generals to rule over Nagarbhavi on their behalf.

3. So far, the country had been run by benevolent monarchs who did not interfere in
religious/communal matters. While the Wakandians did not officially support any
religion, they were rumored to often indirectly encourage communal disputes and
violence. Due to 200 years of Wakandian rule over Nagarbhavi, communal differences
had increased significantly, so much so that to punish individuals for marrying into
different communities, people often disowned the couple from inheritance. Some
communities even practiced „honour killings‟, wherein family members of the inter-
communal couple murdered the couple to bring back „honour‟ to their families. The
perpetuation of these differences led to the development of distinct civil laws for each
religious community.

4. While the communities were busy fighting amongst each other, some individuals from
the educated classes realized the manner in which the Wakandians had been
manipulating them and formed the Nagarbhavi Political Alliance(“NPA”). Over a fifty-

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 year struggle, the NPA managed to remove the Wakandians from Nagarbhavi and sought
to establish a democratic government. To allow for harmony amongst the communities,
the NPA decided to draft a governing document, i.e. a Constitution, for the country.
Recognizing the importance of certain rights of the people, the Constitution included a
chapter of Fundamental Rights.

5. The chapter included:

Article 14 - “The State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or equal
protection of the laws within the territory of Nagarbhavi”.
Article 15 – “Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or
place of birth.-
(1) The State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion,
race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them.
(2) No citizen shall, on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any
of them, be subject to any disability, liability, restriction or condition with regard to-
(a) access to shops, public restaurants, hotels and places of public entertainment; or
(b) the use of wells, tanks, bathing ghats, roads and places of public resort maintained
wholly or partly out of State funds or dedicated to the use of the general public.
(3) Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from making any special provision for
women and children.
(4) Nothing in this article or in clause (2) of article 29 shall prevent the State from
making any special provision for the advancement of any socially and educationally
backward classes of citizens or for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes.”
Article 21. “Protection of life and personal liberty.-
No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to
procedure established by law.”
Article 25 – “Freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of
religion.-
(1) Subject to public order, morality and health and to the other provisions of this Part,
all persons are equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess,
practise and propagate religion.
(2) Nothing in this article shall affect the operation of any existing law or prevent the
State from making any law-

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 (a) regulating or restricting any economic, financial, political or other secular activity
which may be associated with religious practice;
(b) providing for social welfare and reform or the throwing open of Hindu religious
institutions of a public character to all classes and sections of Hindus.
Explanation I.- The wearing and carrying of kirpans shall be deemed to be included in
the profession of the Sikh religion.
Explanation II.- In sub-clause (b) of clause (2), the reference to Hindus shall be
construed as including a reference to persons professing the Sikh, Jaina or Buddhist
religion, and the reference to Hindu religious institutions shall be construed
accordingly.”
Article 26 – “Freedom to manage religious affairs.-
Subject to public order, morality and health, every religious denomination or any
section thereof shall have the right-
(a) to establish and maintain institutions for religious and charitable purposes;
(b) to manage its own affairs in matters of religion;
(c) to own and acquire movable and immovable property; and
(d) to administer such property in accordance with law.”
Article 29 – “Protection of interests of minorities.-
(1) Any section of the citizens residing in the territory of India or any part thereof
having a distinct language, script or culture of its own shall have the right to conserve
the same.
(2) No citizen shall be denied admission into any educational institution maintained by
the State or receiving aid out of State funds on grounds only of religion, race, caste,
language or any of them.”

6. Identifying various goals that the people wanted to achieve in the future, the Constitution
also included a chapter on the Directive Principles of State Policy, which provided that:
Article 44 –“Uniform civil code for the citizens The State shall endeavour to secure for
the citizens a uniform civil code throughout the territory of India”

7. It is pertinent to note that the Constituent Assembly, i.e. the drafting committee of the
Constitution also noted:
“It is the intention of this Assembly that in future both the legislature and the executive
should not merely pay lip service to these principles enacted in this part, but that they
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 should be made the basis of all executive and legislative action that may be taken
hereafter in the matter of the governance of the country.”

8. With the conclusion of the drafting of the Constitution, Nagarbhavi declared its
independence on 6th October, 1950.

9. In 2001, a young girl named Arya, belonging to the Stark community, one of the most
highly regarded communities in Nagarbhavi, had gone to the city of Westeros to study
medicine. Westeros was primarily habituated by the Lannisters, the ancient enemy of the
Stark clan. During the course of her study, Arya met a Lannister boy named Robert and
fell in love with him. Since both of them had attained majority, right after graduating
from the University of Westeros, they decided to marry each other. Enraged by Arya‟s
behavior,Arya‟s father, Edward Stark decided to disown her. Since Edward Stark‟s
property was inherited by him from the Stark ancestors, Arya decided to initiate legal
proceedings against him for unlawful deprivation from ancestral property. It is pertinent
to note that while the Starks‟ communal practice allowed such disinheritance (though it
has not been challenged so far), the Lannister law did not allow for the same. Arya
argued that since she had now become a Lannister, she could not have been disinherited
from the property and that in any event, disinheritance on the ground of conversion is
invalid. On the other hand, Mr. Edward Stark pleaded that her conversion to the
Lannister community/religion, was in itself a sufficient ground for preventing her from
inheriting Stark property.The matter is still pending before the High Court of Middle
Earth, within the jurisdiction of which the properties are located, and the case has been
numbered as CS(OC) 231/2012.

10. Observing the legal battle between Arya Stark and her father, the Society for Uniformity
(“SU”), has filed a writ petition against the government of Nagarbhavi, before the High
Court of Middle Earth, praying to the High Court to direct the government to draft and
implement a uniform civil code, in accordance with Article 44 of the Constitution of
Nagarbhavi. The writ petition has been numbered as WP(C) 332/2012.

11. Based on the aforementioned facts, the High Court of Middle Earth will be hearing
arguments on the following questions of law:

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 1. Does SU have the locus standi to file a petition regarding the Uniform Civil Code?
2. Does the Middle Earth High Court have jurisdiction to hear this petition? Or should the
matter be heard by the Supreme Court of Nagarbhavi?
3. Does the constitutional scheme, in light of various religious protections regarded as
fundamental rights, actually allow for the imposition of a Uniform Civil Code,
disregarding religious laws?

12. Further, by working extremely hard over the next few years, Arya and Robert became
highly regarded in the community, not only for their skill in medicine, but also for their
stance against religious violence and honour killings. In 2012, Arya decided to contest
the legislative assembly elections in the city, to further the cause against religious and
communal violence. When the news of Arya‟s decision to contest the election and her
main agenda reached the Knightswatch, a militant group seeking to restore honour to the
Stark Tribe, they decided to murder Arya and Robert for dishonoring their clan. Arya‟s
civil suit is now being pursued on behalf of her son, Aarav, by his legal guardians. In this
suit, the High Court will be hearing arguments on the question of law as stipulated
below:
1. Can Arya Lannisterclaim inheritance in the Stark Ancestral Property? 1
2. After Arya‟s demise, does Aarav have a legitimate claim to the Stark ancestral
properties?

13. Both the Writ Petition as well as the Civil Suit will be heard by the same bench in
succession on 4th and 5th August, 2018.

Note: The laws of Nagarbhavi are pari materia with the laws of India. Further, countries
which were ruled by the Wakandian Empire also adhere to the common law system.

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The religion of the parties has not been provided on purpose to allow for policy level arguments in this regard.