MOOT PROBLEM NO. 1
Ridhima Gupta v. State of Delhi
Armaan Mallik and Ridhima Gupta are students of CBIT Engineering College, Delhi. They are
pursuing their II year. Armaan is a very boisterous person and a known prankster. He once set
off firecrackers in the class when the lecturer was teaching. Ridhima, on the other hand, is an
introvert and was known to have temper issues. Armaan always used to tease Ridhima, who
was obese, and would refer to her as a “moti bhains”. He spread rumours about Ridhima saying
that she is a drug addict. On one occasion, she lost her temper and slapped Armaan too. From
then on, she made the fact that she hated him known explicitly.
On 5th November 2012, at around 5:45 pm, Armaan texted Ridhima from her friend and
classmate’s phone asking her to come to the college auditorium immediately to talk about
something very important. Ridhima rushed to the auditorium and on reaching, she found it
empty. As soon as she entered, at around 6:00 pm, Armaan turned off all the lights, cut off the
power supply and locked the auditorium from outside. Ridhima panicked and started banging
at the doors. She cried for help and ran around looking for an exit. She remained in that state
for about half an hour. At around 6:30 pm, on hearing someone at the door, she hid behind it,
holding a wooden stick she found in the auditorium. As soon as Armaan entered, she
administered a blow on his head from behind with that stick. Soon after Armaan collapsed, she
dropped the stick, ran out and locked the door from outside. The CCTV footage obtained from
the camera positioned outside the auditorium, towards the entrance, clearly captured Ridhima
entering, Armaan entering and thereafter Ridhima leaving. The wooden rod used was recovered
from the garbage bin nearby. Ridhima’s friends stated that on finding her nervous, they
questioned her persistently about what was wrong. However, they said, she refused to answer,
took a tranquilizer and went to sleep.
On 6th November, at around 8:00 pm, Armaan Mallik was found lying in a pool of blood in
the auditorium by a group of students. According to the post mortem report, he gradually bled
to his death due to the wound at the back of his head. Ridhima Gupta has been arrested and an
FIR filed against her. She is sought to be prosecuted for the murder of Armaan Mallik.
The matter is scheduled for hearing in the Sessions Court, Delhi. Argue on behalf of- (1) State
of Delhi; (2) Ridhima Gupta.