This article is written by Gaurav Prakash. This is an exhaustive article that aims to provide important tips for young advocates and interns appearing in Delhi High Court and Supreme Court of India.

Introduction

We all are hit by Covid19, courts are closed, litigation work has come to a standstill, but it won’t last forever. There will be sunshine again, courts will again reopen, if not sooner than later, new young law graduates will wear the advocate band for the first time and will walk in the corridor of courts. There will be quite a lot of them who must be well-versed with the working of all the courts in their internship days but not all of them. There will be some young interns as well who must have joined Law chambers of these courts.

I want to share some tips, valuable insights, it might be trivial but sooner or later if they will follow each of these tips or valuable insights it will work in their favour. No law college is going to teach us these things, I have learned them from my own limited experience while attending courts both as an advocate and as an intern. I am writing this article by keeping in mind the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court of India’s work culture.

So, let us get started:

Punctuality

My parents always scolded me for not being punctual in my school as well as college days. I was always notorious for being late in my friend circle. I learnt the importance of punctuality much later in life (don’t be me). No matter how far or how near you stay from these courts you should always reach the court by 10:00 am. In the Supreme court if you don’t have the Entry pass which they issue to advocates, clerks, and court officials, you have to make an entry pass from the pass counter every day, in that case instead of 10:00 Am you should reach the court by 9:45 am.

In Delhi High Court one can show their Advocate Id which BCI issues at the time of entry at gates and one can get the entry in Delhi high Courts and District Courts. For interns who are going to Delhi High Court, one needs to get it made from the pass counter which is opposite to Gate No. 7 of Delhi High Court.

Now I am asking you to reach the court by 10:00 am when the court sits at 10:30 am. The first and foremost reason is the amount of traffic in that area. The whole area of Pragati Maidan and India Gate becomes a little congested at these hours. If you are coming via Delhi Meerut Expressway you will start finding the congestion from Akshardham only. If you are coming by metro, then you will find congestion near both Mandi house metro station and Pragati Maidan metro station. Second, often you will be asked for a mention by your seniors. Freshers generally get these works so for that you must be at a particular courtroom before the court sits. If you are not in the court by 10:00 am then, in that case, it will be chaos for you and chances are that you might lose your turn of mentioning, or sometimes your seniors might ask you to take printouts of certain case laws from the library in the court premises. You should be there in the library by at least 10:10 am so that you can give them the judgments before your item is called for hearing. So punctuality is the number one thing.

Be Easy when in court

I cannot forget the first day in the Supreme Court. I was very anxious that day and I got a very important lesson from a very senior Advocate on the very first itself. I entered a wrong courtroom and I was trying to get out of that court desperately, in doing so unknowingly I was pushing people around me. The Senior Advocate was entering the court and he said without looking at me “Be easy, easy when you are at court, be easy”. I didn’t forget that lesson. 

This is the charm and privilege of working in the Supreme Court: you learn the basics of court etiquettes from the best in the business. The Supreme Court and the High Court is not an easy place to work. In the morning it’s quite chaotic. Everyone can be seen rushing, running around the corridor to reach their destination. You have to be courteous with the people who are fighting their own battle. In courts, you have to be courteous, calm and patient. 

No matter what the situation is, don’t panic, always use the words sorry and excuse me when asking for your way out. When you are dealing with court officials either he/ she is a court master, court clerk or a person from registry be humble and courteous to them. You need them to make sure your day to day work at the court happens smoothly. Once one of my seniors got into some altercation with a registry person, I was sent to deal with her in some other matter. 

I was extremely courteous, humble to her and the same lady with whom one of my seniors was involved in an altercation did my work with ease. So, give respect and take respect, remember you are dealing with humans. As humans we are not perfect, sometimes we are not in a good mood, we are irritated, once should be wise enough to navigate their way in those times. You should know when to shout and when to be quiet.

Be Presentable

In my internship days, I have seen some advocates in District Courts, they usually don’t wear proper formal dress and use to argue in the court. I don’t want to go into the details but their dressing style was not presentable. When I came to Delhi High court or Supreme Court this was not the case. You have to look presentable. You have to wear a coat, gown, and band in the Supreme Court no matter how cold or hot the weather. Initially, it will be quite uncomfortable but trust me you will get used to it. Your band should be clean, shoes polish, hairs combed.

Being presentable does not mean that you should become a fashionista, wear a lot of makeup, be overdressed, no you are not here for a marriage ceremony but be presentable enough to look fresh and clean. Your appearance will reflect your personality. People take you most seriously then.

I think we are now mature enough to know what to wear and what not to wear. But your dressing, your shoes, your gown, your coat should be neat and clean.

Carry File when you are before the bench

It is the basic courtesy, whenever you are before the bench no matter how small the reason is, if you have to appear before the bench you must carry a paper file or any document, might be an application. Judges do not appreciate that advocates are appearing before them empty-handed. In the Supreme Court, I have seen that one advocate who must be in his 50s was scolded by the bench as he was not carrying any file or documents with him. 

He was just asking for a Passover then too he got scolded by the bench. You cannot expect seniors to handover your paper files or documents each time you appear before the court, you have to ask them to give you or if they cannot provide you with that exact case file carry something or the other case file or some random office copy documents but do not appear before the court, empty-handed. 

Judges are also human beings and human beings are sometimes unpredictable, your small request of a Passover may get rejected by them if you don’t follow this.

Know your case before you appear

I always get instructions from my senior in the morning itself, in which court I have to appear and what I have to convey to the court. So, in that case, I usually don’t know the facts of the case but I should at least know who the parties are in the case. What is the status of the case, whether we are required to file any documents or not? If not then at what stage the case is. 

Again, for this thing you need a case file, which most of the time you won’t be having, don’t worry technology is at your rescue. There is a mobile application called Provakil. You just have to download it from Google store, write the name of the case along with the court in which it is listed and boom you will get the information of the case including the orders of that case. I use this app. It’s quite useful. (I hope Provakil appoints me as their brand ambassador after this).

Know the court premises

It took me a month to know the whole premises of both supreme court and high court. If you don’t have much to do or you have a hearing which will come after lunch or you are done with your work, just make yourself well versed with the Court premises. You should know where the court library is, where the filing counter is, where is the registry, where is the dealing, on which floor what are the courtrooms, look for every gate, every floor, and every room. 

It is going to be in your workplace. You should know your workplace well. If you cannot find the time to roam around, ask around, people will be happy to guide you. This way you will learn and remember. You should know which court moves fast, which court is slow so if there is a clash of matters in different courtrooms you should know at which courtroom to run before.

Manage your appetite according to court timings 

In both the Supreme court and High Court of Delhi lunch hours are of one hour. Sometimes you will be so busy that you won’t get time to have your lunch the whole day. What will you do? Carry snacks or ready to eat food items with you so that you have something to eat easily. Follow proper hygiene. Carry hand sanitizer also. If you like to relish food items at the cafeteria of court, you won’t be very disappointed. 

Though you won’t be getting mouth-watering dishes you will get a decent meal at a very economical rate. During lunch hours which is generally between 1:00-2:30 pm, you will find the main cafeteria of both the courts fully occupied. Don’t wait for your turn, find alternatives, there are canteens in the Lawyers Chamber Block also, you will find a peaceful place to enjoy your food there. Grab quick bites and save your time. 

There is a decent cafeteria in the Setalvad Lawyers Chamber in the Supreme court. In Delhi High Court you will find ample food stalls near Gate no 7.

Networking

If you are going to visit courts daily or suppose 3-4 days a week then you must build your network. Now how do we do it? The answer is the more you appear before the court or you go to dealing, filing counters or registry people will start recognizing you if not your name then definitely by your face. If you are spending 3-5 hours in court you must build your network. 

Go to a library you will find someone who must be waiting for his case, ask them if they can help you with a legal query, if they are happy to answer your query great, move ahead introduce yourself and then share your number or ask for their card. You don’t know when someone can become a great help for you professionally. But remember don’t be clingy if a person is not interested in your legal doubts or any conversation leave them alone you don’t know him/her, what misery that person must be going through.

Always follow your instincts if you feel that another person is not interested in having a communication stop right there. Generally, advocates who are quite old are more welcoming in nature. They are more than happy to give their business cards; accept them their experience can teach you a lot. Your rapport with court officials, your fellow advocates will always help you in the long run. 

One must always address them if salutations (sir/mam), you give respect and you take respect. Many of the court officials must be of your parent’s age then too they will address you by Salutations, you must oblige them with the same humility. Many times, I have saved myself because I had a decent rapport with the court officials. There will be some difficult days also, you will find some court officials who are quite difficult to deal with but you have to be extra careful with them, remember you are here to do your work not to teach them moral lessons. 

As a young advocate, one must not involve in any kind of heated argument with them. If things are not going your way, ask your office clerk to accompany you or your colleague or your law college friend who must be working in the same court. Getting into any heated argument should be the last thing one should get involved in.

Carry a mouth freshener 

Some of you must be quite amused by why I have mentioned this. Believe me, there are times when one of my fellow advocates standing next to me asked some questions, and I couldn’t answer and it is because he had a bad breath. It is not his fault, you are sitting in courtrooms all day with your mouth shut, sometimes one doesn’t get time to drink water or have food. What will you expect a bad breath only? 

Carry toffee, chewing gum, or any mouth freshener. Have some tea or coffee if you are a tea and coffee guy and girl. You have to open your mouth in close proximity. I am sure no one wants to bother anyone with their bad breath. Suppose you are briefing your senior about the case and you have bad breath, I am sure you never want to get involved in such embarrassing situations.

Conclusion 

Sometimes small things make a very big impact, one must not shy away from doing them. I hope this article will be of some help to freshers and young interns. Will see you in court.