ICFAI LAW SCHOOL,

THE ICFAI UNIVERSITY, DEHRADUN

Presents
ST
1 ICFAI NATIONAL TRIAL
ADVOCACY COMPETITION- 2023
IN HYBRID MODE

IN COLLABORATION WITH

NAKS LEGAL
Advocates & Solicitors

TRIAL
PROPOSITION

Knowledge Partners Media Partner

 Table of Contents
FACTUAL BACKGROUND ................................................................................. 2

FIRST INFORMATION REPORT ......................................................................... 4

WITNESS STATEMENTS RECORDED UNDER SECTION 161 CR. P. C. ...... 7

EXHIBITS ............................................................................................................... 8

AFFIDAVIT .......................................................................................................... 11

Disclaimer
The Trial Proposition is entirely fictitious and was drafted only for the 1 st ICFAI
National Trial Advocacy Competition. The individuals, institutions, organizations,
and events portrayed in this Trial Proposal are all made up. Any resemblance to
actual people or events is entirely accidental and unintended. The contents of the
Trial Proposition are not intended to defame/denigrate/hurt the feelings of any
individual(s), institution, community, organization, or class of individuals.
 FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Indisa is a country located in the southeastern part of Asia and is one of the
fastest growing economies of the world with the world's largest population.
There are 28 states and 8 union territories in Indisa. Kelhi is the capital of
Indisa. There are two major religions which are followed in this country-
Sanatana and Islam. This country was colonised and ruled by the Britishers for
the past 200 years and got independent in 1947. Prior to its independence, the
British Government had enacted certain laws-like the Indisan Penal Code which
penalised the people for wrong doings. Indisa has two major political parties-the
Indisan National Congress and Indisan People’s Party. Elections are regularly
held in five years and these two parties with several small regional parties
contest the same on a regular basis. Indisan National Party follows the idea of a
secular state while the Indisan People’s Party was a Pro-Sanatana religion party
and is based on the idea of Sanatani-Indisa. However, due to the massive
support of voters for years, Indisan National Congress used to win the elections
since 1947 till 2014. In 2014, for the first time Indisan People’s Party came to
power by winning the elections and a pro- Sanatani leader Jainendra Sodhi
became the Prime Minister of Indisa.

Adil Imam is a 5th year law student pursuing his B.A. LL.B. (H.) from Indira
National University (INU), Kelhi. He belongs to Islamic religion. He is also a
student wing leader of Indisan National Congress. On 14th August, 2023 on the
eve of Indisa’s Independence Day, a debate competition was organised in the
INU, Kelhi by its debating society. The topic of the debate was “The future of
Indisa in age of space technology.” While delivering his speech in the debate
competition Adil said certain sentences against the present government at the
centre. The relevant portion is mentioned below:

“...while we have completed more than 75 years of independence,

we are not yet free from the issues like- hunger and starvation,
religious hatred amongst Sanatani and Islamic followers and
unemployment. On one hand we talk about space and nano-
technology and on the other hand we are being ruled by one
fanatic Sanatani ruler who is a murderer of Islamic youths...”
 Many professors and students of the INU, Kelhi who were present at the
debate competition objected to what Adil said and demanded his instant
apology, but Adil refused to do so. After a few days, a video clip of his speech
was shared on the platform of the Debating Society’s Facebook page and then it
went on to be viral on various WhatsApp Groups and other Social Media
Platforms. People from all over Indisa were talking about this speech and this
became a topic of debate on various news channels. Many people whose
feelings were hurt by Adil’s speech lodged FIRs against him U/S 124 A of the
Indisan Penal Code. Adil’s political party Indisan National Party’s General
Secretary issued a press note suspending the primary membership of Adil from
the party for six years. Moreover, this issue was highlighted in the media and
PM Jainendra Sodhi remarked on this speech while talking to the press that,

“...it was an unfortunate speech and hurt his feelings

as well. Indisan National Congress should apologise for this
to the nation.”

After the Prime Minister’s remark, the Police Authorities came to action and
arrested Adil Imam from his hometown in Sihar- a state of Indisa. Adil Imam
was brought to Kelhi after which his questioning and interrogation by state
police began. His family denied the allegations of sedition, saying his speech
was being taken out of context.

The Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, East Kelhi took the cognizance against
Adil Imam in FIR No. 241 of 2023 dated 17.08.2023 registered at the Defence
Colony Police Station, Kelhi. As the offence is triable exclusively by the Court
of Sessions, He committed the same u/s 209 Cr. P. C. to the Sessions Court,
East Kelhi. Sessions Court has set the date of trial to be XX/XX/2023.
 FIRST INFORMATION REPORT
(Under Section 154 Cr.P.C.)

1. District: New Kelhi P.S.: Defence Colony, New Kelhi Year:2023 FIR No.
241

Date.17/08/2023
2. Act: - Sections:
IPC 1860 124A
3. Occurrence of Offence
(a) Day: Monday Date: 14/08/2023
Time Period: Time From: 11:00 hrs Time To: 16:30 hrs
(b)Information received at P.S. Date: 17/08/2023 Time: 14:54 hrs
(c) General Diary Reference: Entry No.: 037A
Date/Time :17/08/2023 14:54
4. Type of Information: Written
5. Place of Occurrence:
(a) Direction and Distance from P.S.: SOUTH, 9.9 Km(s) Beat No.: 50
(b) Address: INU, New Mehrauli Road, Munirka, New Kelhi, Kelhi,
110067
(c) In case, Outside the limit of the Police Station:
Name of P.S: District:
6. Complainant/Informant: Ramesh Gupta
(a) Name: SA
Ramesh Gupta S/O Somesh Gupta, R/O Defence Colony, New Kelhi, Kelhi,
Profession-Professor Bindal School of Law, Kelhi
(b) Date/Year of Birth: 09/12/1986 Nationality: INDISAN
(c) Passport No.: Date of Issue:
Place of Issue:
(d)Occupation: Professor
(e) Address: 301, Arunoday Apartment, Defence Colony, New Kelhi, Kelhi,
110069
7. Details of Known/Suspect/Unknown accused with full particulars (attach
separate sheet if necessary):
Adil Imam, 5th year student, B.A. L.L.B. (H.), INU, Kelhi.
Student Wing Leader, Indisan National Congress.
8. Reason for delay in reporting by the complainant/informant: NO DELAY
9. Of the properties stolen/involved (attach separate sheet if necessary):
Sl. No. Property Type (Description) Est. Value(Rs.)

10. Total value of property stolen:

11.Inquest Report / U.D. Case No., if any:
12. F.I.R Contents (attach separate sheet, if required):

To, The D.C.P R Chadda Defence Colony, New Kelhi, Kelhi. Sir/Madam, Sub:
My name is Ramesh Gupta. I am a resident of Defence Colony, New Kelhi, Kelhi.
I work as a professor at the Bindal School of Law, Kelhi. On 14th August, 2023 a
debate competition was organised in the INU, Kelhi in which I was invited as a
judge. I went there at around 11:30 AM and was judging the competition when a
student named Adil Imam came to deliver his speech and said things which were
not in the favour of our country. A true patriot will never say or listen to such
things. He said, “...while we have completed more than 75 years of independence,
we are not yet free from the issues like hunger and starvation, religious hatred
amongst Sanatanis and Islamic followers and unemployment. On one hand we
talk about space and nano-technology and on the other hand we are being ruled by
one fanatic Sanatani ruler who is a murderer of Islamic youths...” I felt very bad at
this and immediately left the event after his speech. Adil Imam has hurt my
feelings as well as committed a crime U/S 124A of the IPC and thus, I request
you to kindly take appropriate actions against him.

13. Action Taken Since the above information reveals commission of

offence(s) u/s as mentioned at Item No. 2:
 (i) Registered the case and took up the investigation:

OR
(ii) Directed (Name of the I.O.) Satish Kumar Rank: INSPECTOR

No : 28882531 to take up the investigation OR

(iii) Refused investigation due to : OR

(iv) Transferred to P.S (name) : District:

on point of jurisdiction

F.I.R read over to the complainant/informant, admitted to be correctly

recorded and a copy given to the complainant/informant, free of cost:
R.O.A.C.:
WITNESS STATEMENTS RECORDED UNDER SECTION 161
Cr.P.C.

Statement of P.W. 1:

Ankit Raheja

I am Ankit Raheja, a student of INU, Kelhi. I am a 3rd year law student. On 14th
August at around 11.30 am, I was at the event of a debate competition where I
saw that one of my seniors, Adil Imam, was giving a speech after which, a lot of
Chaos was in the room. People coming out of the room said Adil said
something seditious.

Statement of P.W. 2:

Shalini Bhatnagar

I am Shalini Bhatnagar, a 5th year law student from INU, Kelhi. I was at the
debating event on 14th August when the seditious speech was given by Adil. He
has been opposing the present government since it came to power. He must
have said something against our government.

Statement of P.W. 3:

Imteyaz Ahmed

I am Imteyaz Ahmed. A canteen staff of INU, Kelhi. On 14th August I went to

the debating room to serve snacks when I heard Adil Imam speaking against our
Prime minister and government. He said the Prime minister has killed Islamic
youths. After this everyone started shouting and I could not listen anything.
 EXHIBITS

Exhibit 1: Screenshot containing WhatsApp group conversation

Exhibit 2: Screenshot of the viral Instagram reel containing the video footage of
Adil’s speech.
Exhibit 3: Screenshot of Facebook page responsible for widespread of the speech.
 AFFIDAVIT

IN THE COURT OF CHIEF JUDICIAL MAGISTRATE, KELHI

Case No.XXX/ 2023

PARTIES

Ramesh Gupta ................. Complainant

Versus

Adil Imam ................ Accused

AFFIDAVIT
(Under Section 65 B Of Indisan Evidence Act)

I, Ramesh Gupta S/O Somesh Gupta, R/O Defence Colony, New Kelhi, Kelhi, do
hereby solemnly affirm and state as follows:
1. I affirm that I have secured screenshots and video recordings from:
• A WhatsApp group conversation where Adil's speech was discussed.

• An Instagram reel which went viral, showcasing excerpts from Adil's

speech.

• A Facebook page where the video of Adil's speech went viral and sparked
widespread discussions.

2. The said electronic records have been taken from my personal electronic device
which is owned, maintained, managed, and operated solely by me. The details of
my device from which the evidence was collected are:
- Device Name: vivo y51A
- OS Version: android 13
- Device Manufacturer: vivo
- Device Model: vivo 2415
- Installed Physical Memory (RAM): 8 GB
 - Pre-installed internal storage capacity (ROM): 256 GB
- Device IMEI: 886859658455223
3. The electronic outputs, comprising screenshots and video recordings, were
generated by my device during the regular course of use. I have lawful control
over these devices and have used it regularly for personal and professional
communication.
4. The electronic records in question, showcasing Adil's speech and subsequent
reactions, were saved, or viewed in the ordinary course of my observations.
5. Throughout the said period when these records were saved, my device was
operating optimally without any malfunction or tampering, ensuring the
authenticity and accuracy of the electronic records.
6. I confirm that the information contained in these electronic records has been
derived directly from the events and interactions as they occurred, and no
alterations or modifications have been made post-facto.
Place: Kelhi
Date:21/08/2023
Deponent
Ramesh Gupta

Verification

Verified on this 21st of August, 2023 at Kelhi, that the contents of the above stated
affidavit are true to my personal knowledge and belief, and no part of it is false,
and no material part of it is concealed.

Deponent
Ramesh Gupta
NOTE ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Adv. Vishal Kumar Singh is a graduate of the School of Law and Governance. He
also earned a Diploma in International Humanitarian Law from NALSAR
University of Law in Hyderabad in 2021. He is currently working as an Advocate
at the Patna High Court. His outstanding achievements include the World
Intellectual Property Organization's General Course on Intellectual Property and
numerous other significant contributions. One of his most notable
accomplishments was the publication of "Combating Child Trafficking and
Ensuring the Rights of Vulnerable Trafficked Children" in the NUSRL Law
Journal. It is also accompanied by a number of exemplary internet publications,
including "Dharma And The Present Legal System in India" and "A Few
Incidents That Changed India As A Nation."

He has been involved with the Human Rights Law Network (HRLN) from his
undergraduate days, and several particular instances of critical relevance, such as
the rights of prisoners on trial, student rights, and bonded labor rights, motivated
him to join HRLN as an Advocate. His impact to society is outstanding. He filed a
petition at Patna High Court arguing that persons infected with leprosy during the
Covid-19 outbreak should not be denied food, regardless of whether they have
ration cards, fingerprints, or adhaar cards. One of his significant accomplishments
was informing slum dwellers about the Bihar Policy for Rehabilitation
and Development.
NOTE:
• Laws and statutes of Indisa are pari materia to India.
• Statements of Defence Witnesses are to be framed by the participants
which shall not exceed one page per witness.
• The Supreme Court of Indisa has not made the Section 124A of IPC
inoperative as of now.