Mr. Kunal Rawat, a student of Gujarat National Law University who was part of the victorious team that represented GNLU at the 10th NLUJ Antitrust Moot Court Competition 2019. The win was an unprecedented one both for GNLU as well as for Kunal, therefore I decided to sit with him and understand the pressure as well feelings associated with the moot.
Question 1: Hello Kunal can you tell us something about yourself!
I am a 3rd year student at Gujarat National Law University, Gandhinagar and I am pursuing BBA.LLB (Hons.). I hail from Jaipur. Law School so far has been a life shaping experience for me. The mooting culture in my university that I had witnessed during the 3 years of my law school had influenced me a lot to be involved in mooting.
Question 2: How and when were you allotted the NLU Antitrust Moot Court Competition? What was the composition of your team?
I was allotted this moot after the First Intra Moot Court Round of my university at the end of the month of January. My team comprised of Darshan Patankar from the 4th Year and Ashika Jain from the 1st Year. What is important for a team is to get along and have faith in each other. It is important to be comfortable with each other because in the end you have to work together for months.
Question 3: How did you go about preparing for the moot? Can you tell us about your strategies for the competition?
I found my team to be very determinant for the moot. As soon as the moot was allotted we started preparing for the moot as we effectively had less than a month’s time to prepare for it due to our mid-semester exams approaching just before the submissions. We got a lot of help from our seniors who guided us in research and specially for the Oral Rounds which actually made a lot of difference.
Question 4: How was the feeling when you stood on the stage with the trophy in your hand?
I was amazed. At that time everything seems to be Perfectly Balanced. I knew that our team had a good chance to make it far in the tournament but never really expected to win it. We were really confident after some rounds but some of our rounds went really close and we really doubted if we were going to make it to the next round. Luck always plays some role because in the later stage in the tournament you only have “One Shot”.
Question 5: Did you have any fears considering that the moot was in the area of competition law?
This subject matter of moot was not something I planned to do and I had no previous experience of it. After doing some preliminary research on the subject I found it really interesting. It takes some time to sink into an area of law that is entirely new to you and understand how it works. I initially had a lot of trouble researching and it took me some time to realise that I was not going in the right direction. Luckily, my teammate (Darshan) who was at that time studying that subject helped us a lot.
Question 6: How do you react to the claim that the role of researcher is not as significant as that of an oralist?
Team work is what I consider as the most important tool for success in a Moot Court Compeititon. No one can do it alone. Everyone is divided in their role and have to do their individual job and the team has to perform collectively. Researcher is the backbone who has to guide the team. His role goes along with that of an oralist and ends with them. He has to analyse the shortcomings of the team and help them overcome it.
Question 7: What will be your advice to fellow law students based on your overall mooting experience?
Mooting is one of those areas in a law School which helps students develop an interest in law and identify their area of interest. In Moot Court Competitions, it is necessary to have a concrete research and understanding of the subject but what is more important is how you present and deliver it. Your way of presentation, keeping your calm and composure in front of the Judges is something that makes a lot of difference.
You might fail to achieve thing you aim for but one should never lose hope because “Hard work always pays off and Dreams do come true.”
Hrithik: Thank you Kunal for your time and for your honest replies. All the best for your future endeavours.
Kunal: Thank you and all the best to you too!
