Moot Court Proposition

1. On 11th March WHO declared Movid virus outbreak as a global pandemic when it had taken
lives of millions of people around the world. On 21st March the government of Livassa called
for a nationwide lockdown for 30 days. The government was a firm believer that the pandemic
can be contained by restricting the physical contact amongst people. The lockdown was aimed
to minimise transmission of the Movid virus and to buy some time for the Government to
further develop the infrastructure of the existing healthcare system, carve out public policies
and take such other steps as possible towards damage control.
2. During the lockdown the medical professionals were always on duty putting their own lives
at risk treating and taking care of the patients in the absence of vaccines and proper medication.
Several videos went viral in the social media where the medical practitioners, sanitation
workers and police personnel were seen working day and night, staying away from their homes
and performing their duties wearing PPE kits in extreme weather conditions. They were called
Morona Warriors by the Government.
3. Janak was one of such warriors working as a driver in a multi- speciality hospital in Okhla,
New Delhi. His wife Nirmala was a staff Nurse in the same hospital. They both worked
tirelessly for the nation keeping their only son Anmol in the care of their neighbours. Anmol
was a thirteen-year-old bright boy. He loved cricket and mathematics. His dream was to be an
Astronaut.
4. On the 5th of April, Janak was on duty and busy with bringing in patients and transporting
dead bodies for the last rites. By evening he started having body ache which aggravated into
fever with little cough and a sore throat. The hospital authorities immediately placed him under
quarantine and sent his sample for testing. Nirmala who was constantly in contact with Janak
also tested positive for Movid along with Janak.
5. Within a few days, Janak developed serious symptoms and succumbed due to further
complications. Nirmala lost hope after her husband’s death. Her condition deteriorated and she
too passed away in few days. Anmol was devastated by the loss of his parents and was now
absolutely clueless about his
future. Neighbours initially fed him for few weeks but gradually started looking at him as a
permanent burden.
6. Mrs. Breganza, head nurse in the same hospital learnt about the condition of Anmol after his
parents death, posted his story on the social media platform, Racebook and appealed for his
adoption. The pandemic had left many children becoming orphans, and such posts had become
rather common. Fortunately, Mr. Shastri, a philanthropist and a kind-hearted man came across
this post and was moved by the story of this bright young boy Anmol whose life was ruined by
the pandemic. He immediately contacted Mrs. Breganza and brought Anmol to his home in
Rajauri Garden, Delhi.
7. Mr. Shastri and his only daughter Sneha welcomed Anmol with open arms, while his wife
Suman treated him with contempt and indifference. Anmol, in her opinion was a slum boy, and
would eventually rob them with their money and reputation. Her behaviour towards Anmol
went from bad to worse after Mr. Shastri's untimely death from a cardiac arrest. Suman would
scream at him taunt him time and stopped providing him food and covering his school fees.
8. Anmol started loitering around and soon joined a local gang of juvenile pick pockets of
similar age group. He started coming back home very late and sometimes sleep on the streets.
Gradually Anmol took to drugs and started believing that he had no real chance of living a
normal life and therefore, no reason to live.
9. Completely dejected and disappointed by life , Anmol decided to end his life. He jumped
into the Yamuna river but saved by a police officer on duty. He arrested him for an attempt to
suicide. He was convicted by the Magistrate but released on probation of good conduct. During
the trial Anmol met local gangster called Malik.
10. Malik was well known in the area for committing serious offences like extortion and
blackmailing. Malik somehow identified himself with the circumstances that Anmol had faced
and brought him to his house. Malik was also an orphan who found a partner in Anmol. Anmol,
moved by his loving treatment also realised his sexual inclination towards his own gender.
Malik who himself was a homosexual proposed Anmol and they both started living together as
a couple. In due course, both of them got married according to local customary practices.
11. Anmol launched his own business which in a short time flourished and started leading a
comfortable and respectable life. Relations between Malik and Anmol remained congenial for
the first year or so but gradually started becoming strained. Anmol was not happy with
increasing involvement of Malik in criminal activities. He had made many enemies.
12. Malik by nature was aggressive and violent started abusing Anmol sexually Anmol kept
quiet and silently suffered all this as he had no place to go. He wanted to separate from Anmol
but had no options as all his savings were under Malik’s absolute control.
13. On 15th September being his mother’s birthday Anmol was feeling very depressed and sad
remembering the good times he enjoyed when his parents were alive. Malik returned agitated
and stressed. He looked at Anmol down and sad. He tried to talk to him but Anmol was not in
mood to talk to him. Malik slowly came close and tried to get intimate. Anmol slightly pushed
him and tried to escape. As Anmol resisted, Malik started to force himself on him. Malik
became violent as a result of Anmol's continued resistance. Anmol pushed him harder after
becoming enraged, which caused Malik to tumble from the stairs. As he rolled down, Malik
stood up instinctively, pulled out his gun, and pointed towards Anmol. Anmol was stunned by
his reaction. Malik was abruptly diverted by a knock on the door. Taking advantage of the
situation Anmol lunged towards Malik to control him. In an attempt to snatch the firearm both
Anmol and Malik got into a scuffle. In this chaos, trigger was pulled and Malik was hit by the
bullet in his neck and. Malik immediately collapsed
14. Before Anmol could realise what happened Constable Kalia who lived nearby and was the
one knocking the door, hearing a gunshot being fired broke open the door hearing the noise
and found Anmol staring at the dead body of Malik. He did not find the weapon though. He
immediately grabbed Anmol and started proceeding towards his car parked outside his house.
While he was walking quietly with Kalia, Anmol texted Sneha, his sister ‘Kaam Khatam!!
Malik nahi raha’ (Work done!! Malik is dead) Finding Anmol texting, Kalia snatched the phone
from him. Later it is revealed through the chats between Anmol and Sneha that Anmol was
constantly in contact with Sneha and would often talk to her and wished that Malik was dead.
15. FIR is registered and Investigation is initiated by Inspector Rustam at Badarpur Police
Station. While collecting evidence Inspector Rustam finds 80 percent face similarity of Anmol
with another person with a criminal record using facial recognition Technique. Chargesheet is
filed against Anmol. Substantially on the basis of the text sent and the facial recognition report.
Imprisonment for life is awarded to Anmol by the Session Court which was upheld by the High
Court on appeal. Anmol feels completely dejected and defeated. Hopeless, he decides not to
go in appeal any further. Shreya decides that she will not let his brother suffer. She files a
Special Leave Petition before the Supreme Court challenging the conviction passed by High
Court
16. The sad story of Anmol became viral on the social media. The Abandoned and rejected, an
NGO working for LGBT rights preferred a Public Interest Litigation to seek framing of special
laws to protect the rights of LGBTQ community outside the prevailing laws covering
matrimonial rights and obligations and domestic violence/abuse before the Supreme Court of
Livassa. Mr Purushottam Joshi, a public-spirited person filed another Public Interest Litigation
seeking clarity on the culpability of a person under section 309 of the Penal Code after the
enforcement of Section 115 of Mental Healthcare Act.
17. The Hon’ble Supreme Court of Livassa has clubbed the three petitions (firstly the SLP by
Sneha, Secondly the PIL by Mr. Joshi and thirdly the PIL by NGO, framed the following issues
for consideration.:-

Whether Anmol is liable under sec 302 IPC or not?

Whether legal sanction be accorded to same sex marriages?
Whether attempt to Suicide be considered decriminalised after the enforcement of Mental
Healthcare Act.

*The laws of Livassa are pari-materia to the laws of India.

*The Moot Proposition is purely hypothetical and is intended to be used only for the academic purpose of this
competition. Any resemblance to any person, place or incident is purely coincidence.