Valedictory Report
On 29thof January 2023 the Valedictory Function of the Justice G.D. Kamat Memorial National Moot Court Competition 2023, was held in Raythata Hall, Panjim Gymkhana.
The function began with a welcome address by Dr. G Shabir Ali (Principal V.M. Salgaocar College of Law) who welcomed the Chief Guest Hon’bleJustice Mahesh Sharadchandra Sonak;Mr. Ulhas Kamat, Trustee of G.D. Kamat Charitable trust;Prof Bhaskar Naik, Planning and governing council member of VMSCL, Dr AmodShirali, Director of the Moot Court Society; Siddhant Shetye, Student Coordinator of VMSCL and other distinguished personalities from the legal field and also congratulated all the participants for their efforts.
This was followed by an address by Mr. Ulhas Kamat(trustee) who spoke about the life and journey of Late Justice G.D.Kamat from being an advocate at the High court, to being associated in educational and social organizations, to becoming a prestigious judge and introducing Lok Nayalay at The Bombay High Court- Goa bench in July 1996 and always being a humble human being. After his death on 27th January 2015, The G.D. kamat charitable trust was set up to pay homage to Late Justice G.D.Kamat.
Further on Vice- Chairman and Education Advisor of DSES, VMSCL, Mr. Bhaskar Nayak emphasized on the primaryresponsibility of law institutions “to hold Moot Courts and ADR” and that VM Salgaocar has carried it out beautifully without fail. He also put forth his suggestion to the law students from all across India to be humane and lawyers with good morals who help the Indian Judiciary in tackling the issue of backlog cases and to help in disposing off the cases in a faster and better manner.
Lastly Siddhant Shetye, the student coordinator gave a brief overview of all that has transpired over the course of this competition and thanked Sr. Adv. Saresh Lotlikar Sir for his guidance and support and trustees of The G.D. Kamat charitable trust who helped nurture this idea into reality. The competition took place from the 27th January to 29th January 2023 and witnessed 26 prestigious law institutions from across the country competing for the trophy. The competition was judged by advocates and the final round of the competition was judged by the Sitting Judges of the Bombay High Court, Hon’ble Shri. Justice Mahesh S. Sonak, Hon’ble Shri. Justice Valmiki Sao Menezes, and Former Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court, Justice FerdinoInacio Rebello.
The congregation was then addressed by the Chief Guest Justice Mahesh Sharadchandra Sonak, who paid his homage to Late Justice G.D.Kamat. He also talked about the qualities that a law student must inculcateand that the moot court competitions served as a stepping stone for that. He also advised law students “to give the law a creative interpretation rather than slavishly adhering to precedents. Precedents are not chains that tie us down to the past rather look at them as light posts which illuminate the way. Therefore, learn to go where no one has gone before and then leave behind a beautiful trail.”
This was followed by declaration of the results wherein the Best Researcher award was bagged by Jayditya Mohan from University Institute of Legal Studies, Punjab University; The Best Memorial award was wonby School of Excellence in Law along with a cash prize of Rs. 15,000/- and Shrinidhi Joshi from R.V. Institute of Legal Studies, Bengaluru was awarded as the Best Mooter and also awarded a cash prize of Rs.15,000/-The runners up were KLE Society’s BCA, Hubballi and were awarded cash prize of Rs 25,000 along with Trophies and Merit Certificates and the winners of Justice G.D. Kamat Memorial National Moot CourtCompetition,2023were National Law Institute University, Bhopal and were awarded cash prize of Rs. 50,000 along with Trophies and Merit Certificates.
The Valedictory Function concluded with a vote of thanks by Dr. Aamod Shirali, Director of the Moot Court Society and faculty coordinator of VMSCL, who applauded the efforts of all the Volunteers, sponsors and the organizing Committee for making the competition a grand success. The Program was compared by Alyka Machado and Bhumika K. Redkar. Overall the event and competition was a grand success,ending on a positive note.