By OUR STAFF REPORTER
DEHRADUN, 20 Jan: The prize distribution ceremony of the ‘2nd Justice Keshav Chandra Dhulia Debate and Essay Competition’ was held at the Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy, here, on 19 January.
Dr Jagmohan Sharma, Director of the Academy, was the Chief Guest and gave away the cash prizes, Medals and Trophies.
Abha T Gandhi, Dr Lokesh Ohri, Dr Sanjeev Chopra and the Chief Guest, Dr Jagmohan Sharma, addressed the winning students, faculty members and distinguished citizens of Dehradun. Abha T Gandhi, the examiner of the essay competition, in her address paid tribute to Justice KC Dhulia under whom she had worked as lawyer. She highlighted the values enshrined in the Constitution, which was the subject of the Essay, and expressed her appreciation of some of the essays wherein original thinking was present. She highlighted the importance of organising the thought process and maintaining the same. Dr Lokesh Ohri emphasised the importance of the ‘ scientific question’ in one’s argument and importance of relevant data.
He narrated his personal association with Medha Patkar and Narmada Bachao Andolan and how their plea was lost in the historic case on account of insufficient data. Dr Sanjeev Chopra talked about the importance of ‘facts’ from his personal experience of being in various tribunals and stated that a case may be argued very emotionally but if the facts do not support the same, they are unlikely to win an argument. To impress upon the young law students the importance of preparation and reading, he narrated the story of Surendra Nath Bannerjee who was twice President of The Indian National Congress and how he took trunk loads of books to hill stations in order to prepare his Presidential address.
The Chief Guest, Dr Jagmohan Sharma, complimented the Karmabhoomi Foundation for its initiative and remembered the role of Pandit Bhairav Dutt Dhulia and his newspaper in the freedom movement. He impressed upon the audience to learn from Nature, which is robust and balanced. He stated that there should not be one fixed position in life because it leads to conflict and if eight billion people of the world take such a stance there would be chaos. Therefore, he recommended adjustment and accommodation for harmony in personal and professional life to be purposeful.
Ikneet Singh of Soban Singh Jeena University, Abhyudaya Shrivastava of UPES, Hemani Rawat of Graphic Era Hill university and Divya Bisht of Soban Singh Jeena University won Gold, Silver, Bronze medals and special mentions, respectively, in the essay competition. They were also given cash prizes of Rs 25,000/15,000/10,000/and 5000, respectively.
The debate winners of Chanakya Law College, Rudrapur, Adiba Ansari and Pratham Awasthi won a cash prize of Rs 30,000 and the Winners’ Running Trophy. The Runner Up Trophy and cash prize of Rs 20,000 went to Abhinav Bansal and Swapnil Shrivastava of Uttaranchal University.
The programme was conducted by Anita Joshi. At the end, Himanshu Dhulia, Secretary of Karmabhoomi Foundation, proposed the vote of thanks.
