Moot

Problem
Findia is a developing Southern Asian country. Findia, unlike its neighboring countries has always
taken a stand for Privacy rights of its citizens. The right to privacy has been enshrinedin the Article
21 of Constitution of Findia as well as it has been upheld in various case lawsof the country.

In the year 2021, on an international front, the social messaging app “WhereApp” claimed that it
has sent a special message to approximately 1,400 users who it believed were impacted
by the attack of spying software “Nefarious” and has directly informed them about what had
happened. At least two dozen academics, lawyers, Dalit activists, Political leaders and journalists
were alerted by the company in Findia.

However, it is not exactly known who carried out “surveillance” on these Findian targets.
The Findian Government says, it is concerned over the breach of privacy of the citizens of Findia
and asked WhereApp to explain the kind of breach and what is it doingto safeguard the privacy
of millions of Findian citizens.

The software “Nefarious” has been developed by Fisrael’s company NSO, which has stated
before and now again that it doesn’t sells the software to the Private companies, but only to
the Vetted Governments and that too after the approval of Fisrael’s government.

In the research conducted by the media platform “The Tower” which is associated with “The
Nefarious project” (The project titled “The Nefarious Project” is a collaborative investigation
that involves more than 80 journalists from 17 news organizations in 10 countries coordinated by
Secret Stories with the technical support of Bamnesty International’s Security Lab). Nefarious,
once installed, gives attacker complete access to the target user’s phone. Nefarious can “send back
the target’s private data, including passwords, contact lists, calendar events, text messages and
live voice calls from popular mobile messaging apps. The target’s phone camera and
microphone can be turned on to capture all activity in the phone’s vicinity, expanding the scope of
the surveillance. (Report is attached as Annexure No. 1)

Nefarious exploits undiscovered vulnerabilities, or bugs, in Android and iOS. This means a phone
could be infected even if it has the latest security patch installed. A previous versionof the
spyware — from 2016 — infected smartphones using a technique called “spear- fishing”: text
messages or emails containing a malicious link were sent to the target. It depended on the target
clicking the link—a requirement that was done away with in subsequent versions. By 2019, a
“Zero-click update” was in session, Nefarious could infiltrate a device with a missed call on
WhereApp and could even delete the record of this missed call, making it impossible for the user
to know they had been targeted.
Nefarious is state-of-the-art spyware and NSO charges an exorbitant sum for its product and
services. The Fisraeli company, however, markets it as a tool to track criminals and
terrorists — for targeted spying and not mass surveillance. NSO Group sells the software to
governments only. A single licence, which can be used to infect several smartphones, can cost up
to Rs 70 lakh. According to a 2016 price list, NSO Group charged its customers
$650,000 to infiltrate 10 devices, plus an installation fee of $500,000. The annual license fee can
range in and around $7-$8 Million.
The editor’s Guild of Findia, while in shock and utter dismay, demanded an urgent and independent
inquiry into these snooping charges against the government’s role. (Statement is attached as Annexure
No. 2)

Serial PIL litigant Advocate NK Singh has filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court seekinga
court-monitored probe by a Special Investigation Team into the reports of alleged snooping by
government agencies using Fisraeli spyware Nefarious over journalists, activists, politicians etc.

The PIL raises the following issues:

a) Whether Constitution of Findia allows Prime Minister and his ministers to snoop citizen of Findia
for their vested political interest?

b) Whether the defence of National Interest can be taken by the Government of Findia?

c) Whether buying of Nefarious software without approval contra to the Art. 266(3), 267(2)and
283(2) does not attract S.408 & 409,120-B of Findian Penal Code?

d) Whether snooping of common citizen of Findia, opposition leaders, judges of the judiciary and
others do not attract an offence S.3 of the Official Secrets Act of 1923 as well as u/s 65,66 & 72
of the Information Technology Act, 2000 coupled with Violation of Article 21(Sic)?

Laws of Findia are pari-materia to that of India.

Annexure No. 1 (to be read alongside and as a part of the Moot Problem only)

Following is the report published by The Tower-

Founded in 2010, the NSO Group is best known for having created Nefarious, which allows those
operating it to remotely hack into smartphones and gain access to their contents and functions, including
the microphone and camera. The company has always insisted Nefarious is not sold to private entities
or even to any and every government. In fact, in its letter to The Tower and its media partners, NSO
reiterated that it sells its spyware only to “vetted governments”.
NSO did not confirm whether the Findian government is a customer but the presence of Nefarious
infections in the phones of journalists and others in India and the nature of the targets selected for a
potential hack suggests that one or more official agencies here are actively using the spyware. This
inference must be drawn because Nefarious can only beused by a client of NSO and NSO has only
“vetted governments” as clients.

The Bamnesty International first had access to this leaked list which they shared with The Tower and 15
other news organizations worldwide as part of a lengthy collaborative investigation called The Nefarious
Project.

The Nefarious Project is a collaborative investigation that involves more than 80 journalists from 17 news
organizations in 10 countries coordinated by Forbidden Stories with the technical support of Bamnesty
International’s Security Lab.

Working together, these news organisations – which include The Parent, The Washington Letter, were
able to independently identify the owners of over 1,571 numbers across at least 10 countries, and
forensically examine a small cross-section of phones associated with these numbers to test for the
presence of Nefarious.

The alleged list of targets contained the names of the woman staffer who raised the sexual harassment
allegations against the former Chief Justice of Findia and some of her family members. 40 Findian
journalists such as those at big media houses like Findistan Times, including executive editor Mihir Gupta,
Findia Today, Network 19, and Findian Express. Even two founding editors of The Tower are on this
list, as is two of its regular contributors, including Mohini Sharma. Sharma’s number appears after
she filed back-to- back reports on the business affairs of home minister Nimit Shah’s son, Jagdish Shah,
and Shivam Merchant, a businessman who is close to Prime Minister of Findia. Political leaders like
Raj Kumar Gandhi are also reported to be in the list of targets.

The Tower’s analysis of the data shows that most of the above mentioned names were targeted between
2018 and 2019 – in the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha general elections.

While the Findian government has not so far issued a categorical denial that Nefarious is officially being
used, it has been dismissive of allegations that Nefarious might have been used to conduct illegal
surveillance of targets in Findia.
In a country where data protection and privacy laws are still in a nascent stage, incidents such as this
highlight the big dangers to privacy and freedom in an increasingly digital society.

It is thus imperative that the Government sends a strong message on privacy, something thatthe
Supreme Court in 2017 declared to be intrinsic to life and liberty and therefore an inherent part
of the fundamental rights.
The first thing it could do is to answer categorically if any of the governmental
agencies used NSO’s services.

Annexure No. 2 (to be read alongside and as a part of the Moot Problem only)

Following is the statement of Editors Guild of Findia:

The Editors Guild of Findia is shocked by the media reports on the wide spread surveillance, allegedly
mounted by government agencies, on journalists, civil society activists, businessmen and politicians,
using a hacking software known as Nefarious, created and developed by the Fisraeli company NSO. The
reports, which have been published worldwide over the last few days by a consortium of 17 publications,
points towards surveillance by multiple governments across the world. Since NSO claims that it only sells
this software to governments clients vetted by the Government of Fisrael, it deepens suspicion of
involvementof Findian government agencies in snooping on its own citizens.

While some of the instances of surveillance might have been targeted against those who maybe seen as
credible national security threat, what is disturbing is that a large of such targets were journalists and civil
society activists. This is a brazen and unconstitutional attack on freedom of speech and press. This act of
snooping essentially conveys that journalism and political dissent are now equated with 'terror'. How can a
constitutional democracy survive if governments do not make an effort to protect freedom of speech and
allows surveillance with such impunity?

This is a moment that demands deep introspection and inquiry into the kind of society we are heading
towards, and how far we may have veered away from the democratic values enshrined in our constitution.

The Guild demands an urgent and independent inquiry into these snooping charges, underthe aegis of
Supreme Court of Findia. We also demand that this inquiry committee should include people of impeccable
credibility from different walks of life- including journalists and civil society- so that it can independently
investigate the facts around the extent and intent of snooping using the services of Nefarious.
 TIMELINE FOR THE
COMPETITION

Release of Proposition 1st June, 2022

Last Date of Registration & Online

5th July, 2022
Payment

Last Date to seek Clarifications 10th July, 2022

Release of Clarifications 12th July, 2022

Last Date for submissions of soft copy

13th July, 2022(23:59 hrs)
of Memorials

Last Date for submissions of hard

14th July, 2022(before 5pm)
copy of Memorials

Inaugural Function at Juris Hall and

15th July, 2022
Exchange of Memorials

Researcher’s Test 15th July, 2022

Preliminary Rounds I and II 16th July, 2022

Quarter-Final Round 16th July, 2022

Semi-Final Round 17th July, 2022

Final Round 17th July, 2022

Valedictory Ceremony 17th July, 2022

 RULES & REGULATIONS
1. ELIGIBILITY & TEAM COMPOSITION
All teams shall consist of a maximum of 3 participants [two members designated as
‘Speaker’ and one member designated as ‘Researcher’] OR 2 participants [both speak-
ers], enrolled as full-time LL.B. [both 3 year and 5year course] students.
2. LANGUAGE
The official language of the competition shall be English.
3. ANONYMITY
a) The participating team shall be allotted a team code after the registration process is
completed.
b) The team shall not disclose their identity anywhere in their written Memorials and
instead should use the code allotted.
c) Non-compliance with the Rule 3(b) shall result in immediate disqualification of the
team.
d) The decision of the Organizing Committee in this regard shall be final.
4. REGISTRATION PROCESS
All teams that desire to participate in the competition must fill the google registration
form before 5th July 2022, through the link- https://forms.gle/FCqNYZfZZjEd77P26

5. TEAM CODES
Upon confirmation of participation, each team will be allotted a ‘Team Code’. The teams
shall refer to themselves during the competition using this code only. They shall
otherwise not disclose their identity to anybody except as and when a member of the OC
demands.

6. REGISTRATION FEE
Each team shall submit the registration fee of Rupees 800/-, through online mode through
Paytm /Google pay/ BHIM on Mobile Number: 8948054412(Amrit Singh)
7. ATTIRE/ DRESS CODE
Participants are required to adhere to the following dress code while present in any
courtroom during the Competition.
a) Female: White Salwar and Kurta or White shirt and black pant/black skirt along
with black coat and black shoes.
b) Male: White shirt, black trousers, black tie along with black coat and black shoes.
 RULES & REGULATIONS
8. DECORUM
All Participants are expected to maintain decorum in the Courtroom and in all ceremo-
nies during the competition and are expected to conduct themselves in a manner befit-
ting the legal profession.
9. MEMORIAL
9.1 Each team shall prepare a PETITIONER and RESPONDENT memorial.
9.2 Format of the Memorials
All teams must submit typed Memorials for both the sides fulfilling the following parts:
a. Cover Page
b. Table of Contents
c. Index of Authorities (with page number where the authority has been cited)
d. Statement of Jurisdiction
e. Statement of Facts (not exceeding 2 pages)
f. Statement of Issues
g. Summary of Arguments (not exceeding 2 pages)
h. Arguments Advanced (not exceeding 20 pages)
i. Prayer (not exceeding 1 page)
9.3 Cover Page
Each Memorial shall have the following and only the following on its cover page:
a) The team code on the upper right-hand corner followed by the letter ‘P’ indicating
Petitioner memorial or the letter ‘R’ indicating a Respondent memorial. (Eg- For team
code 16, TC-16P or TC-16R, shall be written on the top right corner of each memorial)
b) Name of the Competition.
c) The relevant legal provision under which it is filed.
d) Name of parties and their status on whose behalf the memorial is filed.
9.4 Formatting Specifications
a) Soft copy of the Memorials should be in ‘.docx’ format.
b) The Hard copy of memorials can be stapled or spiral bound.
c) The page size should be A4.
d) Name of the Competition in the Header.
e) Font style ‘Times New Roman’ throughout the document.
f) Font size 12 (including headings)
g) 1.5 lines spacing
h) 1 inch margin on each side
i) The Participants may use uniform page borders.
 RULES & REGULATIONS
9.5 For Footnotes, formatting specifications are-
1. Font Style ‘Times New Roman’
2. Font Size 10
3. Single line spacing
9.6 Teams shall cite authorities in the Memorial using footnotes following the Harvard
Bluebook 19th Edition. Explanatory or illustrative footnotes are not allowed.
9.7 The Memorial Cover Page should follow the following colour scheme –
Petitioner -Blue
Respondent- Red
9.8 Use of decorative cover pages will attract negative marking. The teams are advised
to use as far as possible light shades for their cover pages.
9.9 The Statement of Facts shall not be argumentative. Any argumentative Statement of
Facts will attract negative marking. It may however seek to draw necessary inferences
from the Facts provided. The Statement of Facts shall not contain any footnotes.
9.10 The Summary of the Arguments should consist of a substantive summary of the
Arguments of the Memorial, rather than a simple reproduction of the headings con- tained
in the Arguments. The Summary of Arguments should not contain footnotes.
9.11 No amendment of the Memorials will be permitted after submission.
10. CLARIFICATIONS TO THE MOOT PROPOSITION
The questions as to clarifications has to be sent through mail latest by 10th July,2022
on our mail ID- mcc.lucknowuniv@gmail.com.
1A full list of clarifications shall be released by 12th July, 2022. (23:59 hrs IST)
11. SUBMISSION OF MEMORIAL
a) One (1) set of Soft copy, i.e., Petitioner and Respondent (only in .doc/.docx format,
compatible with Microsoft Word 2007 (or higher) must be emailed to
mcc.lucknowuniv@gmail.com latest by 13th July, 2022 (23.59 hrs IST) with the
subject “Memorials for Team Code ”.
b) The file names of the electronic copies of the Memorials must contain only the
Team code followed by the letters ‘P’ or ‘R’ depending on which side the memorial
is from. Eg- (For Team Code 16), 16P and 16R.
c) The Memorials for each side shall be submitted as one single mail and not in multi-
ple mails. Any violation of this rule shall invite penalty in accordance with the rule.
d) Set of 8 Hard Copy of memorials (4 petitioner and 4 respondent, total 8 memori-
als) shall be submitted to the moot court committee Faculty of Law, University of
Lucknow (Room no. 308) on or before 14h July, 2022 (before 5pm).
 RULES & REGULATIONS
e) The teams qualifying for the Semi-finals will be required to submit 2 more sets of
memorials, later on (2 petitioner and 2 respondent, total 4 memorials).
f) Participating teams shall positively submit the exchanged memorial to the Court of-
ficial after the commencement of the Oral Rounds.
12. PENALTIES
1 mark per memorial every 12 hours af-
Late Submission ter the deadline of submission disqualifi-
cation beyond 48 hours
Wrong File Name 1 mark per Memorial
Failure to submit Memorial as one File 1 mark per Memorial
Exceeding page limits (Refer to Rule 9.2) 1 mark per exceeding page
Failure to include the sections in the Me-
3 marks per section
morial (Refer to Rule 9.2)
Failure to include the required infor-
mation on the cover page (Refer to Rule 1 mark per violation
9.3)
Failure to use the correct colour 2 marks per Memorial

13. MARKING CRITERIA FOR THE MEMORIALS

13.1 Each Memorial will be marked out of a total of 100 marks.
13.2 There will be separate marking for the Petitioner and Respondent Memorials
13.3 The following will be the Marking Criteria and the allocation of marks to each cat-
egory:
Marking Criteria Marks Allocated
Knowledge of Facts 15
Knowledge of Law 15
Proper and Articulate Analysis 10
Depth and Use of Research 20
Organization and Clarity 20
Evidence of Original Thought 10
Correct Format and Citation 10
Total 100
 RULES & REGULATIONS
14. ORAL SUBMISSIONS
14.1 Non - disclosure of identity
As specified herein above in Rule l, each team shall comprise of two speakers who shall
divide the oral submissions between themselves. Further, during the course of the Oral
Submissions, no speaker shall reveal his or her identity. They shall only identify them-
selves by their Team Code (Rule 5).
14.2 The preliminary rounds, each team shall argue for both the sides (Plaintiff & Re-
spondent) in two separate rounds. In case of a draw, Memorial scores will be seen in the
preliminary rounds and the team with more marks will be declared winner of that round.
14.3 Qualification to the Quarter Final will be based on ‘Win-Win Formula’. The teams
having ‘2 Win’ in the preliminary rounds will qualify for the quarters.
14.4 In case, more than 8 teams have 2 Win in their preliminary rounds, the memorial
score shall serve as a tiebreaker. The team with more memorial scores will be declared
the winner. The winners of Quarters shall qualify for the Semi Finals. In case both the
teams gave equal marks in oral round at Quarter Final stage, Memorial marks shall
serve as a tiebreaker.
14.5 The winner of the Semi Finals and Finals rounds will be decided on the basis of their
oral scores in the respective rounds.
14.6 Distribution of Time
Each team will have a maximum of 20 minutes to present their Oral Submissions during
the Preliminary Rounds. They shall have a maximum of 30 minutes in Quarter and Semi
Final Rounds. They shall be granted 45 minutes each in Final Rounds. This will include
the time that each team may want to reserve for their rebuttal/sur- rebuttal.
14.7 At the commencement of each session of Oral Submissions, each team must notify
the Court Officer of the amount of time that the team reserves for their rebuttal/sur-
rebuttal. A maximum of 3 minutes can be reserved for the rebuttal/sur-rebuttal in the
Preliminary Rounds, 5 minutes in the Quarter Finals and the Semi Finals and 7 minutes
in the Finals.
14.8 No speaker will be permitted to address the Court for more than 12 minutes in the
Preliminary Rounds, 17 minutes in case of Quarter Finals/Semi-Finals and 25 minutes
in the Final Rounds.
15. Prohibition on the use of certain materials
15.1 Participants will not be permitted to make any audio/ visual representation nor will
they be allowed to use personal computers, laptops, tablets, phones or any other tech-
nical or mechanical device during their oral submissions. Such electronic devices can-
not be carried into the courtroom by the teams
15.2 All teams are expected to carry with them hard copies of any case law or authority
which they intend to refer to which may be passed to the Bench. Teams may also com-
pile compendiums which may be passed to the Bench with its permission. However, such
compendiums shall not be in violation of Rule 15.1.
 RULES & REGULATIONS
16. Oral Submissions
Each Speaker will be marked on a total of 100 marks per judge. The Round Total will
be the aggregate of the total of the marks for oral submission of the two speakers.
The following will be the marking criterion of oral submission:
Marking Criteria Marks Allocated
1. General impression and court manner 25
2. Language and fluency 25
3. Expression and advocacy skill 25
4. Knowledge of Law and facts 25
Total 100
Note: The decision of the judges as to the marks allocated to any team shall be fi-
nal (So as to ensure uniformity in the marking system all the judges will be provid-
ed with a marking guideline.
17. RESEARCHERS TEST
a) Conduct of the Researcher test
A Researcher Test will be held before the commencement of the Oral Rounds to deter-
mine the Best researcher. Only the Researcher specified in Rule 1 will be allowed to sit
for the above test.
b) Content of the Researcher test
The test will consist of questions relating to the Problem, both legal and factual. The test
would be for duration of an hour and will comprise a total 50 MCQs of 100 marks.
18. AWARDS
a) There shall be a Rolling Trophy for the Winners and Runners Up Team.
b) There shall be a Trophy/ Award for the Best Memorial.
c) There shall be a Trophy/ Award for the Best Researcher.
d) There shall be a Trophy/ Award for the Best Speaker.
e) There shall be a Trophy/ Award for the Best Speaker (Ist year).
f) There shall be a Trophy/ Award for the Best Researcher (Ist year).
g) There shall be a Award for Best Team(1st year).
Note: The Best Speaker Award will be determined by the points scored by the Partici-
pant in the preliminary rounds. There will be an Award/ Trophy for the Best Researcher
to be determined in accordance with the Researcher Test.
18.1. ‘Certificate of participation’ shall be given to all the participants and all the win-
ners will receive ‘Certificate of Merit’ in addition to the ‘Certificate of Participation’.
 RULES & REGULATIONS
19. MISCELLANEOUS
a) Implementation and interpretation of rules regarding the practice and procedures,
the final decision lies with the Organizing Committee.
b) If any one of the members of a team is notified or informed of any detail or infor-
mation concerning the Competition, it shall be deemed as if the said team as a whole
has been duly notified or informed.
c) The Proposition is neither intended to nor does it attempt to resemble any incident
or any person, living or dead. Any such resemblance is purely coincidental. The
Proposition is a fictitious factual account prepared for the purposes of the present
Competition only and it does not attempt to influence or predict the outcome of any
matter whatsoever.
d) The copyright in the Memorials submitted by the teams shall vest jointly with Facul-
ty of Law, University of Lucknow the acceptance of such vesting is a precondition to
participation in the Competition. The Rules governing the conduct of the Compe-
tition should be strictly adhered to. Any deviation thereof can attract penalties or
disqualification at the sole discretion of the Organizing Committee.
e) The Organizing Committee reserves the right to amend, alter, vary or change, in any
manner whatsoever, the Rules governing the Competition, which would be commu-
nicated to the teams within a reasonable period of time
f) The Chairperson of the Organizing Committee of, Faculty of Law, University of
Lucknow shall be the final arbiter for these Rules and any such decision made by him
on any issue/dispute arising in relation to the Competition shall be final and binding
on all concerned.
g) The Organizing Committee, as mentioned in these Rules, refers to the Moot Court
Committee of the Faculty of Law, University of Lucknow.