Chief Justice Gita Mittal, other Judges of the J&K High Court interact with 150 interns from various Colleges/ Universities

Chief Justice of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court, Gita Mittal and other Judges of the High Court recently interacted with applicants for the High Court's law internship programme.

The interaction was via video conferencing on Wednesday.

"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 on Wednesday", informed the Registrar General of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court, Jawad Ahmed.

Candidates who have applied for internship are students from various colleges/ universities across 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 the University of Kashmir, he informed.

While interacting with the candidates, the Chief Justice and other Judges spoke of the importance of internships, especially during the pandemic.

Many law students face difficulties in seeking opportunities for internships in offices/ chambers of Judges, law offices, lawyers chambers etc. the Judges said. They added that students are also not able to experience the practical working of courts and undertake research work, amid the pandemic.

The candidates were also apprised that prior to the approval of this scheme, there was no such scheme for engagement of law Interns in the High Court.

Therefore, the scheme has provided a golden opportunity for the law students to further hone their legal skills and understand the depth and breadth of legal knowledge.

During the interaction, the 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 the 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 including Delhi, Punjab, Chandigarh, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Telangana, Andra Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand, which were very patiently responded to by the Judges.

Responding to the need to put in place a proper scheme in the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir for the engagement of law students (unpaid), either on a regular basis and/or e-internships, who may be remotely Iocated as well, Chief Justice Gita Mittal had approved the Scheme for Internship and e-internships in the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir.

The law intern will be given an experience certificate by the Registrar General on the successful completion of the internship with the approval of the Judge with whom the intern was attached.