The Academic Debate (Shastrartha) is organized by the Institution to promote the learning and deliberations in the traditional way. This practice is gradually dwindling for various reasons.
Prof. Rewa Prasad Dwivedi and Dr. O. P. L. Srivastava presented their views in the favour of Shunga period, while Prof. R. C. Sharma advocated for the existence of the great poet in the Golden Age of Gupta period.
Coordinated by Prof. Vasishtha Tripathi
Judged by Prof. Sita Ram Shastri and Prof. Y. K. Mishra
Participated by Kunj Bihari Dwivedi, Manoj Kumar Mishra, Vaikuntha Ghimre, Balram Kandel, Ram Prasad Pondel, Siddhidatri Bharadwaj and Bhuvaneshvari Bharadwaj
Coordinated by Dr. N. P. Joshi, Prof. Shivji Upadhyaya and Dr. Kamal Kant Tripathi
Judged by the eminent Sanskrit scholars Prof. Sita Ram Shastri and Prof. Reva Prasad Dwivedi
In this Sanskrit debate, Shri Navaraj Sharma argued that the Vedas are human composition while Shri Ram Adhikari fought for the superhuman nature of the Vedas.
Participated by Shri Rajeev Kumar Pandey (Ashtavakra), Dr. Sukumar Chattopadhyaya (Bandi) and Prof. Sita Ram Shastri (Janaka)
Dr. N. P. Joshi and Pt. H. N. Chakravarty acted as Judges
Dr. Pranati Ghosal responded to a number of questions relating to the contents of the debate
The chief characteristic of the event was the rendering of poetic Hindi version of the entire episode by Dr. Kamla Pandeya