Postgraduate education in law broadens the vision of a lawyer: Justice Prathiba M Singh

Justice Prathiba M Singh of the Delhi High Court and Senior Advocate Fali S Nariman were among the speakers at the award ceremony of the Prathiba M Singh Cambridge LL.M. Scholarship 2021 held on Monday.

. During his speech, eminent jurist Nariman said,

“ Will Durant the American historian writes somewhere that education is the technique for transmitting civilisation. I thank you, Prathiba, for your contribution to the transmitting of civilisation year by year. ”

. Recent recipients of the Scholarship from 2020 and 2021 spoke of their experiences throughout the selection process and the Scholarship’s impact on their experiences at Cambridge.

. The purpose of this Scholarship, as explained by Justice Singh, is three-fold. Firstly, to recognise merit, secondly, to give access to those in financial need and thirdly, to award those students and lawyers who wish to come back to India and contribute to the legal profession.

“ My own life would have been completely different if not for the postgraduate scholarship which I got to study in Cambridge. My family could not have afforded the LL.M. education. The Cambridge Trust came as a Santa Claus to me and enabled me to pursue LL.M. For this I’m eternally gratefully. It is that gratitude which is the seat of this Scholarship .”

. Justice Singh also stressed on the importance of a postgraduate degree in law. While acknowledging that it may not be a necessity, she opined that it broadens a lawyer’s horizons and offers exposure. She remarked that with the growth of the Indian society and economy, we must shift our focus from merely educating people to providing quality education leading to greater innovation.

“ One might wonder what the purpose of a postgraduate degree in law is. Is it necessary for being a good lawyer? No. I think that a postgraduate education in law broadens the vision of a lawyer, gives necessary exposure and also instils a spirit to excel among extremely competitive peers from various countries .”

. The Scholarship is an initiative of the Sardar Manmohan Singh Charitable Trust that was established in September 2012, with the objective of awarding scholarships to the deserving, and providing financial aid and other incentives to students to enable them to pursue their academics and research work across the globe.

. Since its inception in 2014, the Scholarship has been awarded to 15 meritorious students from various law schools across the country. The recipients of this year's Scholarship are Ashirbad Nayak of National Law University, Odisha and Nikhil Purohit of National Law School of India University, Bangalore.

. Ashirbad Nayak was one of the top rank holders of his batch, ranking fourth in a cohort of one hundred and eleven students. He briefly worked at J Sagar Associates in their General Corporate team before coming to the University of Cambridge.

Speaking to the Prathiba M. Singh Scholarship, Ashirbad said, “ I have had the good fortune of being blessed with this scholarship as well as the kindness and generosity of so many people who have helped me get to where I am. I eagerly look forward to passing it on to whoever will need it down the road .”

. During his time at law school, Nikhil Purohit developed a keen interest in the interface of technology law and free speech and its interactions with Intellectual Property Rights. He explored these themes through research work and internships, and a fellowship offered by SpicyIP, a leading intellectual property blog.

“ None of this could have been possible without the support of the Prathiba M. Singh Scholarship in absence of which I would have never been able to take up the LLM offer in the first place. Hence, I am eternally grateful to Justice Prathiba M. Singh, the Sardar Manmohan Singh Trust, and the Cambridge Trust for helping me realise something that I could not even dream of when I started my time at law school .”, said Nikhil, expressing his gratitude to the scholarship program.

. [Read account of entire event here]

Postgraduate education in law broadens the vision of a lawyer: Justice Prathiba M Singh

Shagun Suryam

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