Meet our Campus Ambassadors: Parth Thummar, RGSOIPL, IIT Kharagpur

Since late last year, we have built a network of Campus Ambassadors across more than fifty law schools all over India. These law students have been providing us with information on campus events and activities, and also sharing legal articles.

This series of interviews is meant to turn the spotlight on these hardworking and dedicated individuals.

In this edition, we speak with Parth Thummar, a second-year student at the at the Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property Law at IIT, Kharagpur.

(Edited excerpts)

Why did you choose to study law? Did you have any other interests before deciding to pursue law school?

In my second year of Chemical Engineering at NIT Surat, I developed a keen interest in national politics. I started reading news paper and magazines with specific interest in what was happening in the country.

During that time the Supreme Court was delivering judgements which were making headlines and I started wondering about the impact it had on the ground. This culminated in me developing an interest in the law and hence I decided to pursue law.

Being an engineering student there was always a desire to study in an IIT. I came to know that even IIT is offering LL.B. with specific emphasis on IP laws for engineering students. Though I had cleared almost all 3-year LL.B. entrance exams, I decided to pursue Law from IIT Kharagpur.

Why did you choose to become a Bar and Bench campus ambassador?

When I was preparing for my LL.B. entrance exam, I used to visit Bar & Bench daily for twin purpose. One, to stay updated about the legal happenings around the nation and two, to self-test as to whether I really have an interest in law.

I really wanted to make sure that I would be pursuing law with real interest and not due to the celebrity status of senior advocates. Also, after 4 years of engineering, law was again a 3 years of investment. Bar & Bench acted as a litmus test for me. Since then there was always an inkling to join this revolutionary legal news platform.

Today when all courts are inaccessible to law students to witness live court proceedings, it is Bar & Bench which provides arguments advanced by advocates in cases of importance, and judgements attached with each news acts as a source of learning procedural as well as substantive law in real context.

One wouldn’t be surprised if in times to come, legal media in general and Bar & Bench in particular become one of the integral parts of law students and practitioners.

What are your plans after graduation?

My transition from Chemical Engineering to one of the branches of Social Engineering i.e. Law was with the sole purpose of practicing in the courts. I will most likely start my litigation practice before the Gujarat High Court.