The Ram Balak Mahto Memorial Essay Competition is held in memory of the eminent and distinguished lawyer, Shri Ram Balak Mahto (1926-2020). Late Shri Ram Balak Mahto was one of the great legal luminaries in the field of constitutional law along with certain other fields of law.
The Competition is being organised by the Ram Balak Foundation with unwavering support and guidance by members from both the Bar and the Bench.
About Late Mr. Ram Balak Mahto
Mr Ram Balak Mahto was the longest-serving Advocate General of the state of Bihar, having served for nearly 16 years, and the chief legal advisor to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. From 1937 to date only 20 Advocate Generals have been appointed and out of these, he was appointed six times. Mr Mahto practised mainly before the High Court of Judicature at Patna and had the rare privilege of working with six Chief Ministers of the state in his capacity as the Advocate General- Sarv Sri Bhagwat Jha Azad, Bindeshwari Dubey, Satyendra Narayan Sinha, (all from the Congress Party), Lalu Prasad Yadav (Janta Dal), Nitish Kumar and Jitan Ram Manjhi (Janta Dal-United).
He was born on 27th January 1926 in an agriculturist family in a small village called 'Aunta' (nearly 100 KM away from the capital city of Patna). He completed his matriculation from James Walker High School, Mokama. During his school days, he used to actively participate in the Freedom Movement and, while studying in class 10th, had badly disrupted the British Trade at the Mokama Ghat due to which he had to leave his home to evade arrest.
He had a keen interest in sports and used to play Hockey during his college days. After graduating from the Bihar National College and later from the Patna Law College, he enrolled himself with the Bihar State Bar Council in 1955. In September 1955, he joined the profession of law as an Advocate at the Patna High Court and, during his initial days, worked with the famous Advocate of his time, Sri Lal Narayan Sinha (who went on to become the Advocate General of Bihar and later the Attorney General of India). In 1975, he was appointed as an Advocate for the State Government (Government Pleader), followed by his appointment as Government Advocate and then as the Additional Advocate General. Finally, on 5th April 1980, he was appointed as the Advocate General of Bihar. During his last days, he was serving as the Legal Advisor to the Chief Minister of Bihar. As an Advocate, he commanded respect, both from the Bench and the Bar.
Besides the legal profession, he was actively engaged in various social issues. He was associated with the Mahavir Cancer Hospital, International Yoga Satsanga, International Buddhist Society, Ramakrishna Mission and many other such organisations.
About the Ram Balak Mahto Memorial Essay Competition
The Ram Balak Mahto Memorial Essay Competition is held in memory of the eminent and distinguished lawyer, Shri Ram Balak Mahto (1926-2020). Late Shri Ram Balak Mahto was one of the great legal luminaries in the field of constitutional law along with certain other fields of law. This Essay Competition is aimed to recognise his contributions in the field of law and continue it in his remembrance. The Competition endeavours to stimulate interest and foster growth amongst students to explore and engage with contemporary and seminal issues in the field of constitutional law. The Competition is being organised by the Ram Balak Foundation with unwavering support and guidance by members from both the Bar and the Bench.
The Competition is aimed at understanding the present scenario and developing ideas for the Indian Constitution and examining whether there lies a vacuum in the present text that needs fulfilment. Building on the events in recent times, with numerous controversial Bills and rulings passed by the Hon'ble Courts, the Competition aims to expand and increase academic scholarship in critical areas of constitutional law.
The theme for the 1st edition of this Essay Competition has thus been chosen as "Does the Indian Constitution Require Transformation?" Participants are free to write on, and choose, any suitable topic for their essay as long as it is within the ambit of the aforementioned theme.
General Rules
Submission Guidelines
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The essay must be written in English and submitted in Microsoft Word document format (.doc/.docx).
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Co-authorship up to a maximum of two authors is permitted.
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Only one submission is allowed per author/team. Submissions, both as co- author and single, will be treated as multiple submissions and will be disqualified as an entry to the competition.
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The following formatting specifications need to be strictly adhered to: Main Body: Font – Times New Roman, Font Size – 12, and Line Spacing – 1.5; Footnotes: Font – Times New Roman, Font Size – 10, and Line Spacing – 1.0; Margins should be 1 inch or 2.54 cm on all sides.
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The word limit is 2500-3000 words excluding footnotes. Footnotes must follow the Bluebook system of citation (Harvard, 20th edition).
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The essay must contain an abstract, not exceeding 250 words (which would not be counted in the word limit for the essay). It must indicate the theme/topic.
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All submissions should be made in an electronic form at essay@rbmfoundation.com under the subject heading "Submission: 1st Ram Balak Mahto Memorial Essay Competition" by 9 January 2022, 23:59 hours (Indian Standard Time, GMT +5:30).
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The essay must be accompanied by a separate document containing the following information about the participant: (i) full name of the participant; (ii) theme/topic chosen; (iii) participant’s current year of study and name of the degree pursued; (iv) name and full address of the participant’s university; (v) name and full postal address of the participant; (vi) phone number of the participant; and (vii) email ID of the participant.
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The essay must be original and bonafide work of the participant. Incomplete or plagiarised submissions shall be summarily rejected. The plagiarism limit is 15% (excluding footnotes).
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No part of the essay should contain any form of identification of the participant such as the name of the author, University/College name, etc. on the essay. Any form of identification will lead to disqualification.
Evaluation Criteria
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The essays will be evaluated in a two-stage process on the basis of original thinking, grasp of the subject, writing skills and choice of topic.
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All submissions received will be evaluated by a screening committee comprising practising Advocates, legal academicians and other legal professionals.
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The top 5 essays shall be sent to the judging panel comprising Hon'ble (Retd.) High Court Judges and Senior Advocates at the Supreme Court of India.
Prizes
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Winner: ? 10,000 and an internship opportunity with a Senior Advocate at the Supreme Court of India/ Sitting Judge of a High Court.
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Runner-up: ? 5,000 and an internship opportunity with a Senior Advocate at the Supreme Court of India/ Sitting Judge of a High Court.
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The top five essays will be awarded a Certificate of Merit. A Certificate of Participation will be awarded to all the participants.
Miscellaneous
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The organisers shall endeavour to declare the results of the competition by 27 January 2022.
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By entering the Competition, the participants agree to indemnify the organisers from and against all claims, suits and damages based on any claim of copyright infringement or plagiarism or unauthorised use.
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Any copyright infringement/plagiarism shall result in automatic disqualification. The organisers reserve the right to recall any prize if it is discovered later that the article suffered from any copyright infringement/plagiarism.
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If there arises any situation that is not contemplated in the rules, the organisers’ decision on the same shall be final and binding. The administration of the Competition, including determining the eligibility of any participant or essay, evaluation of essays, and awarding of the prizes, is within the sole and absolute discretion of the organisers.
Important Dates
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Registration opens: 29th October 2021
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Registration closes: 9th January 2021
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Submission Deadline: 9th January 2021
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Announcement of Results: 27th January 2021
Contact
For inquiries, please email us at rambalakmahtofoundation@gmail.com or contact Viraj Aditya at +91 8210697371.
