The 8th National Law School Parliamentary Debate began in the city on Saturday. Eighty teams from different law colleges, including those from Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh, are participating in the six-day event being organised by the National Law School of India University (NLSIU).
The competition begins with six preliminary rounds where each team will compete against seven others. The topic of the debate will be given just before it commences and the teams will be given 20 minutes to prepare. The top 16 teams will qualify for the octa-finals, which will be followed by quarter-finals, semi-finals and the final. The semi-final and finals will be held on December 3.
Long journey
It has been a long haul for Stamford University students from Bangladesh to Bangalore. “We had a long train journey but it was fun,” said Mohammed Imran Khan, who leads the six-member team. The parliamentary debate provides an opportunity to learn what is happening around us. “Such competitions help us,” said Russel, a young member of the Stamford team. Sabroo Karamat, the team leader from University College of Lahore, hoped for a repeat performance of 2005 and 2006 when they had won the competition. “Because of security reasons, we could not participate in the next two editions,” he said. The team reached New Delhi by road and came to Bangalore by flight, he said.
Sharmila Paramanand from the Philippines, who is one of the five Chief Adjudicators for the competition, said the adjudicators will look for the team that is excellent is both style and substance.
