In order to recognize and promote young talent in the field of litigation at the Supreme Court, the Supreme Court Lawyers Welfare Trust (‘SCLWT’) has instituted three fellowships, known as the Justice J.S. Verma Fellowships.
About the Trust
The SCLWT was established in 2008 with a substantial corpus contributed by a practicing Senior Advocate of the Supreme Court, with the aim of supporting and promoting professional opportunities and welfare programmes for lawyers at the Supreme Court of India.
One of the principal objectives of the Trust is to encourage and promote deserving young advocates who wish to practise at the Supreme Court of India. The Justice J.S. Verma Fellowships have been instituted with this objective and have, in the past, been awarded to meritorious young advocates.
Previous Chairpersons of the Trust include the late Justice J.S. Verma and Justice Mukul Mudgal.
The current Chairperson of the Trust is Justice Aftab Alam.
The other Trustees are Chander Uday Singh, Mamata Kachwaha, Gopal Sankaranarayanan, Raghenth Basant, Rahul Narayan, Vrinda Bhandari, Pallav Mongia, Nikhil Singhvi, Jaikriti S. Jadeja and Adit S. Pujari.
Eligibility
The SCLWT invites applications from candidates who satisfy the following requirements:
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Lawyers enrolled with any State Bar Council in India;
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Preference will be given to candidates who have completed a minimum of 2 years and a maximum of 5 years of practice in any court in India;
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Such practice must be purely litigation. Non-litigation work with law firms or individuals, judicial clerkships or teaching assignments do not count. Applicants who have between 2 and 5 years of litigation practice and additional experience in other legal or relevant roles, including international organisations, may be eligible provided they demonstrate a willingness to commit to practice at the Supreme Court of India as stated below;
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On being selected, candidates must commit to at least 2 years of practice at the Supreme Court of India for the Fellowship to continue.
The Fellowship
Each selected Fellow will receive:
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A monthly stipend of Rs 30,000 over a period of two years of practice at the Supreme Court;
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A one-time subscription to SCCOnline®, registered in the name of the candidate.
Requirements
Interested applicants should e-mail the following to scwelfaretrust@gmail.com on or before 20-12-2025:
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A copy of the candidate’s latest CV;
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A 1000 word essay on a case of interest to the candidate, in which they have been involved or which they have been following;
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A 300 word statement of purpose explaining why the applicant is a deserving candidate for the fellowship. Applicants may highlight their socio-economic background and personal circumstances to justify their candidature.
Process of Selection
A panel of Trustees will shortlist 15 candidates from among the applicants for the final round of interviews. The final interviews will be conducted by the Chairperson of the Trust and a few other Trustees in January 2025.
The three selected candidates will be awarded the Justice J.S. Verma Fellowship, which will be effective for two years from the date of the award.
All shortlisted candidates will be contacted via email.