Internship Report
Internship Report
School Of Law
Internship Report
For the partial fulfillment of summer internship; B.com LL.B (Hons) Semester 7th
(4th year)
Name of the Organization: - District and Session Court, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh
Under The Guidance of – Adv. Umesh Sahu
1. Internship Certificate 3
2. Declaration 4
3. Acknowledgement 5
4. List of Acronyms 6
5. Executive summary 7
7. Introduction 9
10. Conclusion 18
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Declaration
I Vyom Saxena hereby declare to have undergone Internship with Adv. Umesh Sahu at District
Court of Madhya Pradesh from 20st June to 20th July 2019. I confirm that the Summer Internship
Report is my original work. I have not copied from any other students work or from any other
sources except where due reference or acknowledgement is made explicitly in the text, nor has
any part been written for me by another person.
Vyom Saxena
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Acknowledgement
I would like to take this opportunity to express my deep gratitude to Adv. Umesh Sahu for his
patient guidance. I consider myself as a very lucky individual to have gotten the opportunity to
be a part of this vibrant experience. Also my sincere thanks to many other professionals
colleagues who guided me and showed patience with my work as well.
I would also like to thank all the senior advocates for providing me with all the required
necessary knowledge and the guidance that they provided me with. I would also like to mention
special thanks to the juniors working under Adv. Umesh Sahu of District Court of Bhopal,
Madhya Pradesh, for the outmost freedom towards their resources and library. I would also like
to thank my faculty for helping me and guiding me.
Finally, I would like to thank my parents for their support and encouragement throughout my
research and study.
Thank You
Vyom Saxena
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LIST OF ACRONYM USED
Cite. Citation
Etc. Et Cetera
Ex. Example
Ref. Reference
Ors. Others
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
During my internship under Adv. Umesh Sahu, I have received constant guidance and
opportunities and different fruitful learning experiences. In this report, there is a formal
introduction about my work which I have performed during the internship period in which I got
opportunities to observe the real time court proceedings at District Court& Session Court of
Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, where we performed tasks related to a variety of matters including
Criminal& Civil Proceedings.
Since, I witnessed these proceedings I got to know and observe and learn the techniques, the sort
of argument they used in there matters, the amount of research included in these matters, the way
they placed their arguments in front of the Judges. I also noticed that there were a lot of different
style’s to every advocate’s arguments regarding their client’s case.
My summary also includes the research which I preformed regarding the stalled cases of District
& Session Court of Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, on which verdict has not yet been passed and to
observe and read and understand the issues of the case, the pleadings of the parties involved with
it, the facts of cases which were of different variety, the different decree’s passed by the Judges
up till now and I also made a composed a summary of those cases. Due to the former
opportunities I got a better understanding about different criminal issues that occur in our society
and got a better understanding about the different laws that govern these matters.
There were different sort of matters that concerned District & Session Court of Bhopal, Madhya
Pradesh like cases of Murder, also relating to variety of different civil matters and mainly that
concerned dishonor of cheques.
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LIST OF CASES REFERRED
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Main Body of Internship Report
I’ve finished my internship at the District & Sessions court, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh under the
guidance of Adv. Umesh Sahu. This section comprises of my research and findings and
observations that I made in District & Sessions court, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh under my
Internship period. I witnessed that how the lawyers argue about the different types of matters that
are presented before the Judges. And I also witnessed the different types of research that is
required before the matter is set in motion which involves a lot of scouting of the surroundings
that involve the cases. Another aspect of the hearing of these cases includes the real situation and
different type of tests that are used to determine the actual situation of the case. Lastly this report
also comprises of the different types of cases that are reviewed and studied during my internship
at District & Sessions court, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.
There are different laws that govern different areas of our day to day life. There we emphasized
on the criminal aspects of the law. The IPC (Indian Penal Code 1860) and CrPC (Code of
Criminal Procedure 1973) and The Indian Evidence Act are the three laws that govern the
criminal side of the cases that are heard there as well alongside the civil cases on a daily bases.
We were mainly given the outside glance of the criminal procedural aspects of these cases by my
mentor during the month of our internship.
My Internship Period started from 20th June 2019 to 20th July 2019. During this period we were
given the complete overview of the District & Sessions court, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, its
establishment and why was there a need for a District Court in our country. During this period
we attended proceedings and saw how the matters proceeded in the real court of law. Different
cases ranging from criminal to civil. Lastly we were asked to summarize the findings of our 1
month internship period and present it in front of our mentor Adv. Umesh Sahu. This
presentation required a verbal presentation about most of the cases that were fought by our
mentor during this period of 1 month and also the different cases that we heard on a daily basis
during the proceedings of the Court. We were also asked to prepare a report on client counseling
techniques.
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1. Composition of District Courts In India
The highest court in each district is that of the District and Sessions Judge. This is the principal
court of original civil jurisdiction besides the High Court of the State and which derives its
jurisdiction in civil matters primarily from the code of civil procedure. The district court is also a
court of sessions when it exercises its jurisdiction on criminal matters under the Code of
Criminal procedure. The district court is presided over by a district judge appointed by the state
governor with on the advice of state chief justice. In addition to the district judge there may be a
number of additional district judges and assistant district judges depending on the workload. The
additional district judge and the court presided have equivalent jurisdiction as the district judge
and his district court.
However, the district judge has supervisory control over additional and assistant district judges,
including decisions on the allocation of work among them. The district and sessions judge is
often referred to as "district judge" when presiding over civil matters and "sessions judge" when
presiding over criminal matters.
Counseling is a vital skill in which the students of law should be trained. One of the significant
functions of a lawyer is to advise the people who seek assistance in knowing the legal
implications of their actions. The lawyer is looked upon to facilitate decision making in certain
critical legal matters. This function of the lawyer influencing and facilitating decisions is called
counseling. Bar Council of India, the highest professional body of lawyers, has a key role in
Professional Legal Education.
It has drawn up a detailed scheme on practical training consisting of professional ethics, bar
bench relations, contempt of court, moot court, pre-trial procedures, negotiations, interviewing
and counselling, drafting of conveyances and pleadings, legal aid, public interest lawyering etc.
The word 'Counsel' has its origin in the Latin word 'cons ilium' which means advice. According
to Blacks' Law Dictionary, counsel means advice and assistance given by one person to another
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in regard to a legal matter, proposed line of conduct, claim or contention. As a matter of fact
lawyers are also legal counsels. Counselor is an attorney; lawyer; member of the legal profession
who gives legal advice and handles the legal affairs of client, including if necessary appearing on
his or her behalf in civil, criminal or administrative action and proceedings.
1. To help the person talk about, explore and understand his or her thoughts and feelings and
workout that what he or she might do before taking action.
Lawyers counsel the client in deciding how his problem can be sorted out under the laws. Legal
counseling is the process by which a lawyer communicates advice to a client. A client is a
person, natural or legal who approaches the lawyer for legal assistance. The word client has its
roots in the Latin word 'clients'. Client is a person using the services of a professional person or
organization. Counseling is the activity in which one person seeks and in one way or another,
pays for help from another person. It is characterized by need on one side of the relationship, by
willingness to help on the other, and by and inter personal contract based on mutual attraction.
Counseling as a professional activity will involve competence and expertise in addition to mere
willingness. Legal counseling is fairly considered a 'service' under the Consumer Protection Act,
1986 making the lawyer accountable for deficiency. In a counseling relationship the client has to
open himself to help and the lawyer has to protect the best interests of his client. Legal
interviewing and counseling is what lawyers do in an office where they see clients one or two at
a time, with the door closed.
Client meeting, the client opens up and talks his problem and concerns and expresses his
expectations. The lawyer listens, notes down and questions the client for necessary information.
There is a sharing of information, views and needs through verbal communication. This
communication which is the life blood for effective counseling is called 'interviewing'. Client
interviewing is a prominent part of legal profession. Giving options, suggesting alternatives,
effective client representation, drafting of documents, pre-trial preparations etc. are all dependent
on this client interviewing.
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Purpose of Client interviewing
The lawyers require to know the factual dimensions of their client's situation. Factual matrices
are the conditions for laws to operate. "Neat packages of fact are a predicate for professional
activity by lawyers". One fundamental purpose of interviewing is to know the facts story. The
responsibility of gathering the facts is that of the lawyer. The fact that the client has approached a
lawyer itself conveys that he or she has identified some legal problems. But the client may not
know what matters, facts, instances and documents are significant and relevant. The lawyer will
have to extract the necessary information and identify the legally sensitive facts. Expression of
feelings like disillusionment, disgustion, pain etc. can also constitute important facts.
Identification of witnesses, documents etc. are also done by interviewing. The second significant
purpose of interviewing is building the professional relationship with the client. The lawyer shall
ensure to the client that his interests will be well taken care of and he and his feelings will be
genuinely respected. Mutual trust is the characteristic feature of the professional relationship. If
the client does not trust he may not divulge certain secrets and may find uneasy to discuss certain
delicate matters. It is pertinent to note that the duty to maintain confidentiality is implicit in the
lawyer’s duty to give priority to the interests of the client. Bar Council standards of professional
conduct and etiquette mandates that the advocates shall not directly or indirectly, commit a
breach of the obligations imposed by Section 126 of the Indian Evidence Act. In establishing the
professional relationship the lawyer will be necessarily interested in knowing certain personal
details about the client, his background, credibility etc. If the lawyer has certain reasons to
disbelieve the client he shall openly discuss with the client the factors inhibiting the trust
relationship. Finally it is the preference of the lawyers to decide whether to take up the case of
the client. In the professional relationship mutual obligations will be discussed and agreed upon.
One interesting and important aspect is that of fees. Quoting the fees is an art best learnt by
experience. Lawyer shall be guided by his stand at the bar, nature of the case and affordability of
the client. Free legal assistance to the needy is a noble duty. An Advocate shall not stipulate for a
fee contingent on the results of litigation or agree to share the proceeds thereof.
Interviewing the client may be a continuous process as the matter proceeds. There may be cases
of a single interview and counseling. But generally when the client seeks counseling and
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assistance in deciding from alternatives available and also representation in the Courts or other
means of implementation of the decisions, interview will be an ongoing process. The first/initial
interviewing shall be carefully attended to. "But the initial interview is essential to cementing the
foundation for the lawyer-client relationship. If the job is poorly done, the foundation will be
unable to support the construction of the complex professional relationship needed to conduct a
long or emotionally difficult case." The client may be very nervous or skeptical. It may be nerve
wracking for the client. Lawyers shall develop the ability to spot nervousness and the capability
to tackle such clients. An informal friendly enquiry, offering refreshments, changing
environment may be required to make such clients comfortable. The law office shall be properly
ventilated and illuminated. Orderly arrangement and aesthetic look of the office shall be given
due attention. Office atmosphere should keep the clients comfortable. Meetings with clients
should be in privacy where ever desirable otherwise clients will not open up. They shall be
assured that their secrets would be safe in the lawyer’s hands.
Interviewing Techniques
Interviewing is a very purposeful activity and attending to small things in a meticulous manner
can provide fruitful results. Counselors should be patient and careful listeners. That the client has
approached a particular lawyer shows that he/she trusts the lawyer and a patient hearing will only
enhance the trust. Moreover the client fears that his property, life or liberty would be at stake and
his feeling should be respected. Lawyer should listen with interest and ensure uninterrupted
hearing. Office staff should be instructed accordingly. Physically responding to what is said,
commenting and questioning on certain significant matters will assure comfort. Lawyer shall
mind the manner and tone of their questions. Silences will have to be tolerated, unwarranted
interruption can block important information. An atmosphere that encourages expressions of
feelings should be ensured. But the lawyer shall be dispassionate and objective lest his logical,
critical and analytical skills will be impaired.
During Counseling
Lawyer shall act responsibly while communicating legal advice to the client. Care shall be taken
to speak in client's language. A lay man cannot appreciate legal terminology. It shall be the duty
of the lawyer to assist the client in understanding his rights and duties. The lawyer shall explain
all options in the situation with consequences and costs. Assistance in making choice from
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available options shall be rendered. No option shall be forced upon the client. An advocate shall
not, at any time, be a party to fomenting of litigation. The lawyer shall be objective and honest
and explain the weakness of the case as well.
Effective Counseling
Learning to apply law in a given situation can mark the beginning. This will help students to
identify the problem, formulate the issues and seek solution under law. We cannot conceive of a
lawyer who cannot talk. Communication skills can be learnt by interacting in the class room
discussions. Raising questions should be encouraged. The opportunity to answer questions raised
in the classroom can be offered to students with the teacher's concluding remarks. Classroom
presentations on small topics should be compulsory for students. Such presentations should be at
least five for each student in every term. Group discussions and seminars for students will open
more gates for student participation.
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2. Cases referred during the internship period
During this internship, cases which I read from Case Files and observed in the Court
Proceedings District & Sessions court, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. are as follows:-
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telephonic request made by the deceased and accordingly, the brother of the deceased
went to the matrimonial house of the deceased and found that the house was locked
and there was nobody in the house. An information was given by the brother of the
deceased to his father and accordingly, the parents of the deceased along with some
other persons came to village Phoop, District Bhinnd, where they were informed by
the neighbourers that the deceased Saroj has already been killed by the accused and
her dead body has been immersed in Kuari river near Paraghat. The dead body of the
deceased was identified by parents of the deceased. The police, after completing the
investigation, filed the charge sheet against the appellants for the offences under
Sections 304-B, 498-A, 201, 34 of IPC and under Section 3/4 of Dowry Prohibition
Act. The trial Court framed the charges under Section 304-B, in the alternative Section
304-B/34, under Section 498-A in the alternative Section 498-A/34, under Section 201
of IPC and under Section 4 of Dowry Prohibition Act.
The brief facts of the case are that Vijay Kumar-complainant is a teacher and is a
resident of village Simariya, Gotegoan District Narsinghpur. On 13.2.2003 when
Vijay Kumar was sleeping inside the house and his parents Shivdas Gumasta and
Parvati Bai were sleeping in the Veranda of their house, in the night at about 3
O’clock he woke up on hearing some quarrel and saw that his mother and father were
being assaulted by the accused victim by sword, gupti and farsa. Vijay Kumar shouted
and tried to stop them from assaulting his parents whereupon the appellants attacked at
him as well and caused injuries. After hearing the noise, his brother Rajendra, sister-
in-law Saroj and neighbours Ramsevak, Rameshwar Gumasta, Govind, Kashiram, etc.
came on the place of the incident. As a result of the injuries inflicted by the accused
due to which Shivdas Gumasta and Parwati Bai died on the spot while the accused fled
away from the place of incident.
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4. Suraj Goyal & ors. Vs. State of M.P.
In this case accused being alleging that there was a hut situated in the field where light
was on and the said hut was not having the door. After irrigating their field, his father
Mohanlal, daughter-in-law Mamtabai wife of Santosh, and maternal uncle Badrilal
were sleeping. He heard the sound of Spade (Fawda) by which he woke up and saw
that four accused persons had entered in the hut and beaten his father. When he
reached on spot to save him, one of the accused assaulted with bamboo stick (Lathi)
and due to the said injury he became unconscious. Accused persons tied him by rope
and leaving there ran away from the spot. Accused persons were wearing underwear
(Chhadi) and Jersey (Sweater) and were about thirty years of age. He further
explained that in the loot, Rs. 6,000/- in cash, two male wrist watches, one lady wrist
watch and one Mangalsutra of gold were looted from his house. It is said from the
house of neighbour Girdhari, accused persons looted Rs.1,000/- in cash and two wrist
watches and from the house of Gopal – one pair ear-ring, Mangalsutra and one pair
anklet were looted by them. It is further said that if the looted articles were shown to
them, they would identify the deceased. The police, after completing the investigation,
filed the charge sheet against the accused for the offences under Sections 304-B, 498-
A, 201, 34 of IPC and under Section 3/4 of Dowry Prohibition Act. The District Court
framed the charges under Section 304-B, in the alternative Section 304-B/34, under
Section 498-A in the alternative Section 498-A/34, under Section 201 of IPC and
under Section 4 of Dowry Prohibition Act. The accused abjured their guilt and
pleaded not guilty.
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Conclusion
My internship at District & Sessions Court, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh was a really fruitful
experience which taught me diverse things and practical knowledge which cannot be gained just
by interning at a High court because District Court and there impositions on its decisions it has
the power to pass hefty amounts of fine on the convicted parties. And hence small matters are
usually not regulated under this regard and a lot of cases are still pending under the Indian
Judicial System. Interning at this institution has opened my eyes about how the different courts
deal with different matters in general.
In my case I had a really good developed and enriching knowledge about how these courts deal
with the criminal and civil issues that occur every day. The main advantage of interning here was
that the main language of conversation in this court is Hindi. In District & Sessions court,
Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh only Hindi is used and it improved my vocabulary by a hefty amount
which helped me to understand the language better. I learned a lot about how the basic member
panel of the District Court is constituted.
The Judicial Member passes verdicts based on his Legal Knowledge which is then written down
by the stenographers. This helped me to know how the cases are fought in District Courts and
there is very serious restrictions on the dressing of the interns as well as the advocates which
help inculcate the professional etiquettes in the students the interns the legal community as well.
The discipline and code of conduct inside the court room is also very well and followed by
everyone which helped me to develop a sense of professionalism for my future endeavors.
Overall the part which helped me the most was the enriching experience of seeing the different
advocates arguing on the cases because each and every advocate had different arguing style
according to which everyone proceeded with their arguments which will definitely help me for
my future endeavors as well.
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Learning Outcomes
The opportunity of interning at District & Sessions court, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, has helped
me discover the various areas of laws and that too in a way which was beyond my understanding
on a basic law school level.
The practical use of these laws and the procedural aspects of these laws are definitely of use to
us as law students for our future because these courts are the place where we are going to argue
in our future if we are going to proceed in our careers as advocates in practice. Another
important thing was the language that was used for communication in the District Courts is
mainstream Hindi and which helped me enhance my vocabulary and made me much more
confident in my public speaking and argumentative skills in different areas of my life
professional as well as private, these experiences help develop the overall personality of any
interning student.
The regular witnessing of these proceedings helped me to develop the code of conduct that was
used in District Courts which is very strict and which helped me develop a value of
professionalism inside me which will help me in my future as well. The way through which the
advocates presented their point in front of the judges to make them on the same page as the
lawyer to win the case was something you can’t learn through normal internships. There manner
was especially aggressive but not aggressive but still persuasive which is a quality that many
advocates still lack to prove a point without getting aggressive and in a polite manner. Also
sometimes the judges didn’t agree with the advocates that would put the advocate under a point
of pressure and then to handle such situations the advocates would come back with a witty
comeback to be spontaneous.
Personally I was wrong at many areas of understanding of such laws and they help me correct
the understanding of criminal laws and with deep understanding as well which would not have
been possible without a good mentor. Also the assignment with client counseling was also very
helpful which helped me develop a sense of talking and comfort any client by different means
which would help him in and advise him towards the right legal aspects to achieve him a remedy
and fulfill my duty as a future budding lawyer.
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5. Internship Activity Diary
25.06.2019 Visited Advocate Office Discussed about Anticipatory Bail with sir.
26.06.2019 Day - Off Since Sir was busy we got an day off.
Discussed about the court procedures under the
27.06.2019 Visited Advocate Office Code of Criminal Procedure.
28.06.2019 Visited Advocate Office Read case file & afterwards discuss it with sir.
Sir had a criminal matter regarding Dishonor
29.06.2019 Went to observe Case Proceeding of Cheque. Sec – 138 NIA.
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02.07.2019 Visited District Court Observed the proceedings of the case.
As sir was busy with some personal work we
03.07.2019 Day - Off got an day off.
04.07.2019 Visited Advocate Office Read case file & afterwards discuss it with sir.
Attended the dispute regarding the bank related
05.07.2019 Visited Consumer Forum matter.
Taking Evidence regarding the matter in the
06.07.2019 Visited Session’s Court court from the party.
08.07.2019 Went to the District Court Observed the proceedings of the case.
Went to the field work regarding the
possession of mortgage of property by the
09.07.2019 Went to the field work bank.
As sir was busy with some personal work we
10.07.2019 Day - Off got an day off.
Read regarding the right of the accused and
how to protect them from being abused by
11.07.2019 Went to the Advocates office different forces.
12.07.2019 Went to the District Court Observed the proceedings of the case.
13.07.2019 Second Saturday Off Day
17.07.2019 Went to the District Court New Matter regarding the family violence.
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Discussed all doubts regarding cases and
18.07.2019 Visited Advocate Office provisions of the civil law.
Last day of Internship, got certificate signed
19.07.2019 Visited Advocate Office and sealed from sir.
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