Justice J.S. Verma Fellowships Announced to Support Young Supreme Court Litigators

To encourage emerging practitioners at the Supreme Court of India, the Supreme Court Lawyers Welfare Trust (SCLWT) has opened applications for the Justice J. S. Verma Fellowships, a programme aimed at identifying and supporting promising young litigators committed to building practice before the apex court.

Established in 2008 with a substantial contribution from a Senior Advocate, the SCLWT works to promote welfare and professional advancement opportunities for advocates practicing before the Supreme Court of India.

Among its core objectives is enabling deserving lawyers in the early years of litigation to gain footing and experience at the highest court.

The fellowship programme has been awarded in previous years to young advocates demonstrating merit and potential. The Trust has previously been chaired by the late Justice J. S. Verma and Justice Mukul Mudgal.

It is currently headed by Justice Aftab Alam, with Chander Uday Singh, Mamata Kachwaha, Gopal Sankaranarayanan Raghenth Basant, Rahul Narayan, Vrinda Bhandari, Pallav Mongia, Nikhil Singhvi, Jaikriti S Jadeja, and Adit S Pujari as Trustees.

Applications are invited from lawyers who are enrolled with any State Bar Council in India.

Eligibility

The SCLWT invites applications from candidates who satisfy the following requirements:

● Lawyers enrolled with any State Bar Council in India;

● 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;

● 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

● 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:

● A monthly stipend of Rs. 30,000 over a period of 2 years practice in the Supreme Court;

● A one-time subscription to SCCOnline® which will be registered in the name of the candidate.

Requirements

Interested applicants may e-mail the following documents to the Trust at scwelfaretrust@gmail.com on or before [20th December 2025]:

● A copy of the candidate’s latest CV

● A 1000 word essay on a case of interest to the candidate, in which they have been Involved, or have been following.

● 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.

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 January 2026.

The three 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.