Behera Trujay Kumar, Moramarri Sunil and Danial Kumar of Visakha Law College, Bheemunipatnam, won the first prize in Quiz and Shruti Kulkarni, Parkhi Rai and Sanjana Dadmi of DSNLU, Sabbavaram, bagged the top honours in Debate at Constitution Day celebrations held at the HPCL auditorium here on Sunday.
Students of various law colleges have shown that they are not only proficient in their subject but also displayed their talents in the competitions conducted as part of the ongoing 72nd Constitution Day celebrations, jointly organised by The Hindu FIC and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL).
The second prize in quiz went to R.S. Lakshmi Narayana, K. Lahari Nath and Y. Pravallika of NBM Law College, Visakhapatnam, and the second prize in debate was bagged by Phani Shekar, Anusha and M.V. Raman of NBM Law College.
The rival teams despite their conflicting opinions agreed that a strong Centre was needed for the progress of the nation as a whole. They, however, felt that the Centre should not impose itself on the States.
One of the teams said that a strong Centre instills the idea of unity, suppresses separatism, promotes sharing of resources between States. This was also necessary to represent India at the international-level. The rival team underlined the need to ensure ‘independence’ of the States.
When Y. Satyanarayana, former Vice-Chancellor of DSNLU, asked one of the teams on the poor response of the Centre to the pandemic, they attributed it the unprecedented situation, which had not given it the time. When the same question was posed to the rival team on the failure of the States to control the pandemic, they said the States were expecting the Centre to do everything and they felt it was wrong on their part.
Senior Civil Judge K.K.V. Bullikrishna explained that the right to legal aid was a fundamental right, guaranteed by the Constitution. While strong Centre and States were required, strong citizens would make a strong nation. Citizens could be strong only when they know of their rights and duties as enshrined in the Constitution, he said.
Prof. Satyanarayana complimented the media for keeping democracy alive despite the ‘erratic political system’. Commending The Hindu for associating with the law schools, he said: “Your association would help them.”
HPCL Visakh Region Executive Director V. Ratan Raj, ED-VRMP P. Veerabhadra Rao and General Manager-HR K. Nagesh gave away prizes to the winners.
The quiz was conducted by Quiz Master P. Venkata Murali and the debate competition was judged by Prof. Satyanarayana, Vydyula Ravindra Prasad, president, Visakhapatnam Bar Association, P.V. Rama Krishna Rao, senior advocate and legal advisor to the city police.
