The 6th Annual National Law School Parliamentary Debate (‘NLS Debate’) was held over four days (November 1-4, 2007) at the National Law School of India University (NLSIU) campus in Nagarbhavi, Bangalore.
The tournament attracted participation from 42 teams (each consisting of 3 speakers and an accompanying judge) representing 23 educational institutions.

The ‘NLS Debate’, launched in 2002 by the Literary and Debating Society of NLSIU, has in the matter of a few years emerged as the sub-continent’s largest parliamentary-style debating championship.

Rigorous format

It follows a rigorous format modelled on international competitions such as the All-Asian championships. The six editions held so far have attracted participation not only from the best Indian universities but have also drawn teams from Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Many teams who participate in the NLS Debate go on to perform exceedingly well in international competitions. 

Several rounds

All the participating teams took part in the six preliminary rounds where teams were drawn in pairs to debate motions pertaining to specified themes. Teams played a designated role of government or opposition in each match. Each preliminary round consisted of 21 matches conducted consecutively in different rooms all over the NLSIU campus, implying that 126 matches were held in the preliminary stages. After the conclusion of the preliminary rounds, the top eight teams proceeded to the knock-out stage. The following motions were debated upon at the various stages of the tournament.

Winners

The grand final was contested between teams from Ram Jas College, New Delhi and Faculty of Law, Colombo University. The running trophy was won by the team from Ram Jas College which consisted of Harsh Malhotra, Kartik Mishra and Prithvi Rohan Kapoor.

The winning team also took home a cash prize of Rs. 18,000 while the runners-up team received Rs. 12,000. Cash prizes of Rs. 6,000 each were also given to the losing semi-finalist teams from Kirori Mal College, New Delhi and St Stephen’s College New Delhi. Harsh Malhotra of Ram Jas College was declared the ‘best speaker’ of the tournament (out of 126 speakers) while Parth Mehrotra of Kirori Mal College, New Delhi was declared the ‘second best speaker’ for the same. A special prize for ‘dignified’ conduct throughout the tournament was given to the team from Chanakya National Law University (CNLU), Patna.