NIT Rourkela team wins national debate at CNLU

PATNA: The ‘Municipality’ team from National Institute of Technology, Rourkela, was declared the winners of the three-day 11th national parliamentary debate organized by Chanakya National Law University (CNLU). The debate concluded on Sunday. Altogether 33 teams from different parts of the country participated in the debate.

Giving away the prizes, Union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad called upon the law students to take up legal profession and serve the society by providing legal advice to the poor and downtrodden. He said there is no shortcut to success and, hence, they would have to labour hard for shining in the legal profession.

Enumerating the essential characteristics of a good lawyer, Prasad said eloquence and articulation while arguing the case determine the success of a lawyer. Becoming a corporate lawyer may be someone’s personal choice, but the real test of lawyer lies in his appearing before the bench. He recalled how all the top leaders of national freedom movement were lawyers.

Wishing good luck to the participants, the minister observed that the best minds in our country were going to IITs and national law universities today. He recalled his meeting with late Madhava Menon, the brain behind the establishment of CNLU and many other law universities in the country.

Speaking about the topic of the debate in the final round — Is satire integral to democracy — he said fun and humour are powerful forces of democracy. He narrated some political satires of Nehru era and said satire has always been an integral part of Indian democracy.

Swayam Purna Mishra of NIT Rourkela and Soumi Chatterjee of St Xaviers’ Kolkata were awarded cash prizes of Rs 54,000 and Rs 33,000 respectively for being declared the winner and runner-up. The two semi-finalists, Animesh Pradhan from NIT Rourkela and Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University, Lucknow, were awarded cash prizes of Rs 12,000 each.

Arshia Grace Manavalan from St Xaviers’ Kolkata and Shivam Burghate from RMLN University, Lucknow, got cash prizes of Rs16,500 and Rs 9000 respectively for being declared the best and second best adjudicators respectively. Pranav Dhupia and Priya Chatterjee Ray of St Xaviers’ Kolkata were declared the best speaker, while Jibran Khan of RMLN University, Lucknow was declared the second best speaker. They got cash prizes of Rs 10,00 and Rs 6000 respectively.

At the outset, CNLU vice-chancellor Mridula Mishra appreciated the enthusiasm shown by the participants and wished them all success in life. The entire function was anchored by CNLU students Aman and Atul. High court judges, lawyers and faculties and students of CNLU attended the function.