Five students from UPES School of Law have won two prestigious national and international competitions – the CCI-HNLU 13th Justice Hidayatullah National Moot Court Competition 2023 and the International Mediation Competition hosted by MediateGuru in association with Khaitan & Co.

Anshika Agrawal, Yashaswani Parashar and Utsav Vats brought home the coveted Justice Hidayatullah National Moot Court trophy.

The competition was held at Hidayatullah National Law University, Raipur and the topic under discussion was Competition Law and Issues Pertaining to Green Channel Route of Combinations, Anti-Competitive Agreements and Abuse of Dominance.

Describing the nerve-wracking experience of representing their alma mater in front of esteemed judges of top courts across India, Anshika Agrawal (BA LL.B second year) says,

“I realised that one does not need to be a National Law University student to get ahead in the field of law. All that matters is one’s hard work, style of presentation, arguing and knowledge.”

Her senior and teammate Yashaswani, agrees.

“Participating in and winning the Hidayatullah Moot Court Competition changed my perspective that one needed to be in a National Law University to crack moots or gain an edge over others,” she says.

She added,

“UPES provides ample exposure on par with National Law Universities, which makes it one of the best law colleges of India.”

Utsav Vats, Yashaswani’s batchmate and third-year student of BA LL.B. (Hons.) believes that the support the team received from UPES as they prepared for the competition was vital.

“The help we got from UPES and the Moot Court Association at the University was of immense help. From allotting us a mentor for the competition to organising practice rounds in front of our learned faculty members, UPES acted as a support system at every step,” Utsav remarks.

The trio received prize money of ₹1 lakh and will begin their paid internship opportunities at AZB & Partners, a leading corporate law firm with offices across India.

While they celebrated their win in Raipur, two of their peers – Raj Pipara and Vaishnavi Panyam, third-year students of B.Com. LL.B. declared their victory over their international opponents, a team from the Swansea University in the Virtual International Mediation Competition which was hosted by MediateGuru in association with Khaitan & Co.

The winners have secured paid internships with Khaitan & Co and have expressed gratitude for the support and encouragement received from the university and the faculty.