Justice Aftam Alam Presents Outstanding Legal Minds With Justice JS Verma Fellowship By Supreme Court Lawyers Welfare Trust
The Supreme Court Lawyers Welfare Trust (SCLWT) has awarded the Justice JS Verma Fellowship to three lawyers: Karishma Maria, Natasha Maheshwari and Samyak Gangwal.
The award ceremony was held at the India International Centre on January 18, 2024 where Former Judge of the Supreme Court and Chairperson of the Trust Justice Aftab Alam, Former Judge of the Supreme Court Justice Rohinton Nariman, and Former Chief Justice of Punjab & Haryana High Court Mukul Mudgal were present.
The three fellows were selected after a rigorous round of interviews. Initially 15 candidates were shortlisted out of the approximately 180 applications received from different states.
This whole process of selection was initiated in August 2023 when the Trust had invited applications from candidates with specific eligibility criteria. The selected fellows are entitled to a monthly stipend of Rs. 30,000 over a period of two years of practice in the Supreme Court. They were also gifted a subscription to SCCOnline, Manupatra, LiveLaw and Bar and Bench registered in the name of each Fellow.
Karishma Maria is a 2019 graduate of Amity Law School, Delhi. She practices independently and is also associated with the chambers of AoR Aparna Bhat.
Natasha Maheshwari is a 2021 graduate of the Maharashtra National Law University Mumbai. She started practising in 2021, at the Delhi High Court and trial courts in Delhi, in the chambers of Vrinda Bhandari. In March 2023, she joined the Chambers of Shadan and Warisha Farasat, where she primarily works on public law matters.
Samyak Gangwal is a 2018 graduate of Jindal Global Law School, O.P. Jindal Global University. He started his career with Lawyers Collective, Delhi where he worked with Senior Advocate Anand Grover and then joined the chambers of Gaurav Gupta, Advocate. Samyak has now set up his own independent practice in Delhi.
The SCLWT was established in 2008 with a substantial corpus from a practicing Senior Advocate of the Supreme Court with the aim of supporting and promoting professional opportunities and welfare programs for lawyers at the apex court. Previous Chairpersons of the Trust include former Chief Justice of India JS Verma and former Chief Justice of the Punjab & Haryana High Court Mukul Mudgal.
The current Chairperson of the Trust is former Supreme Court judge, Justice Aftab Alam. The Trustees are Senior Advocates Chander Uday Singh and Gopal Sankaranarayanan, and Advocates Sadhana Ramachandran, Mamata Kachwaha, Raghenth Basant, Rahul Narayan, and Vrinda Bhandari