Chief Justice Jammu and Kashmir High Court, Justice Gita Mittal alongwith other Judges of the High Court today held an interaction with the candidates who had applied for law internship including e-internship in the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir. The interaction was held through virtual mode.
229 candidates from various Universities/Colleges of the Country had applied for law internship including e-internship with the Chief Justice and Judges of the High Court. About 150 candidates joined the virtual interaction.
Candidates who have applied for internship are students from various colleges/ universities of the country including Delhi University, University of Calcutta, Gujarat National Law University, Chandigarh University, Rajiv Gandhi School IPR IIT Kharagpur, Army Institute of Law Punjab, National Law School Assam, Bhartiya Vidyapeeth University Pune, NALSAR University of Law Hyderabad, University of Rajasthan Jaipur, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, Uttaranchal University, Aligarh Muslim University, Symbiosis Law College, Pune, Jindal Global Law School, Amity University, Nirma University, Ahmedabad, Bishop Cotton Women’s Christian Law College Bangalore, University of Jammu and University of Kashmir.
Chief Justice and other Judges while interacting with the candidates apprised them of the importance of internship especially of e-internship during the present COVID times when difficulties are being faced by the law students in seeking opportunities for internships in offices/ chambers of Judges, law offices, lawyers chambers etc. and the law students are also not able to experience the practical working of courts and learn research work.
The candidates were apprised that prior to the approval of this scheme, there was no such scheme for engagement of law Interns in the High Court of J&K and thus the scheme has provided a golden opportunity for the law students to further hone their legal skills and understand both depth and breadth of legal knowledge.
During the interaction programme, Chief Justice issued on spot instructions to the High Court Registry to arrange a virtual tour of the High Court as well as of its different sections especially ADR Centre, e-Courts and Digitization Section for the interns.
While interacting with the Chief Justice and the Judges, a number of questions were asked by the candidates joining from major cities and towns from Delhi, Punjab, Chandigarh, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Telengana, Andra Pradesh, Karnatka, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand, which were very patiently responded by the Judges.
It is pertinent to mention that responding to the need to put in place a proper scheme in the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir for engagement of law students (unpaid), either on a regular basis and/or e-internships, who may be remotely located as well, very recently, Justice Gita Mittal, the Chief Justice had approved the Scheme for Internship and e-internships in the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir. The scheme envisages that the Law Intern will be given experience certificate by the Registrar General on successful completion of the internship with the approval of the Judge with whom the intern was attached.
Law internships are established programs’ in courts all over the world including several High Courts in India. Internships are fixed term permissions granted to law students to attend and observe court proceedings, read files of cases, undertake legal research on points assigned to them and any other law related activity.