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 two fellowships, known as the Justice J.S. Verma Fellowships.
About the Trust
The Supreme Court Lawyers Welfare Trust (SCLWT) was established in 2008 with a substantial corpus from a practicing Senior Advocate of the Supreme Court with the aim of supporting and promoting professional opportunities and welfare programs for lawyers in the Supreme Court of India.
One of the objectives of the Trust is to encourage and promote deserving young advocates who wish to practice in the Supreme Court of India. The Justice J.S. Verma Fellowships have been instituted with this objective, and have in the past awarded fellowships to meritorious young advocates.
Previous Chairpersons of the Trust include 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 practice in any court of India;
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Such practice will not include non-litigation practice with law firms/individuals, judicial clerkships and teaching assignments (Applicants who have undertaken between 2-5 years of practice, and have certain additional years of work experience in other fields/ assignments in non-litigation or legal roles / work with International Organizations and the like, are also eligible provided that they demonstrate a willingness to commit to practice at the Supreme Court of India, as stated below) ; and
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The candidates must be prepared to commit themselves to a minimum period of 2 years’ practice at the Supreme Court of India for the Fellowship to be continuing.
The Fellowship
Each selected Fellow is entitled to the following:
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A monthly stipend of Rs. 30,000 over a period of 2 years practice in the Supreme Court;
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A one-time subscription to SCCOnline® which will be registered in the name of the candidate.
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A single user subscription to Jurisphere which will be registered in the name of the candidate and tied to their email address.
Requirements
Interested applicants may e-mail the following documents to the Trust at scwelfaretrust@gmail.com on or before 15th November 2026:
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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 have been following.
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A 300 word statement of purpose on why the applicant is a deserving candidate for the fellowship. Applicants may focus on their socio-economic background and personal circumstances to justify their candidature.
Please note that the deadline is final and the requirements must be fulfilled. Applications submitted after the deadline or applications that are not complete will not be considered.
Process of Selection
A panel of Trustees will shortlist 15 candidates among the Applicants for the final round of interviews. The final interviews will be held by the Chairperson of the Trust and a few other Trustees in December 2026 or January 2027.
The two selected candidates will be awarded the Justice J.S. Verma Fellowship which will be with effect for two years from the date of the award.
All shortlisted candidates will be contacted via email.
