Law Jobs by Akinchan Aggarwal, Advocate — B.A. (Hons.) Gold Medalist, LL.B. (University Rank 2), LL.M. (Dispute Resolution), UGC–NET, Ph.D. (Pursuing)
Closing tomorrow.
The Rajasthan High Court, Jodhpur has invited online applications for one post of Legal Researcher, to be deputed with Hon'ble Dr. Justice Pushpendra Singh Bhati. The last date to submit the online application is 20 August 2026. If you are eligible, this is a same-day decision.
The vacancy is worth more attention than a one-line job alert gives it. The Rajasthan High Court's Legal Researcher engagement is not a short internship — it is a one-year contract extendable up to a further four years, and it carries a fixed honorarium at a level most fresh graduates will not match in their first year of practice.
It also carries a condition that rules out a large part of this blog's readership, and it is better to know that before paying the fee.
At a Glance
| Particulars | Details |
|---|---|
| Court | Rajasthan High Court, Jodhpur (Principal Seat) |
| Post | Legal Researcher (contractual) |
| Deputed with | Hon'ble Dr. Justice Pushpendra Singh Bhati |
| Number of posts | 01 |
| Age limit | 33 years |
| Qualification | Fresh law graduate or postgraduate in law from a university, college or institution established by law in India, with basic computer knowledge |
| Last date to apply | 20 August 2026 |
| Mode | Online only, through the Court's recruitment portal |
| Application portal | rhcexam.rajasthan.gov.in/rhclegalres26/ |
| Official website | hcraj.nic.in |
The Condition That Disqualifies Most Advocates
"Fresh law graduate" is doing real work in that sentence.
Under the Rajasthan High Court's Legal Researcher scheme, a practising advocate is not eligible, nor is anyone already engaged elsewhere on an honorarium or payment basis. And during the tenure, the Legal Researcher may not practise law or take up any other professional pursuit. This is a full-time judicial attachment, not something to run alongside a practice.
The practical consequence is worth spelling out, because it is a genuine career decision rather than a formality:
- If you have enrolled with a State Bar Council and started practice, you will ordinarily need to suspend your sanad to take up an engagement of this kind. That is a reversible step, but it is a step, and it should be planned rather than discovered after selection.
- If you are a fresh graduate who has not yet begun practice, or a postgraduate in law, you are precisely the intended candidate.
- If you are currently in a paid internship or another honorarium-based engagement, that is itself a disqualification while it subsists.
Candidates are also required to be Indian citizens, must satisfy the Court's conditions on character and integrity, and are ineligible if involved in any criminal case, whether convicted or with a trial pending.
Honorarium and Tenure
Under the terms on which the Rajasthan High Court has engaged Legal Researchers during 2026, the position carries:
| Term | Position |
|---|---|
| Honorarium | Rs. 50,000 per month, fixed — no dearness allowance, allowance or perquisite |
| Initial tenure | One year |
| Extension | Up to a further four years, or until the retirement of the Judge concerned, whichever is earlier, subject to satisfactory performance |
| Nature | Purely contractual. It confers no right to regular appointment |
| Leave | One casual leave for every completed calendar month |
| Hours | Full time. Work beyond office hours and on holidays may be required |
The extension clause is the part to think about, not the salary.
The engagement runs for one year and is extendable to five in total — but the ceiling is the retirement of the Judge you are attached to, whichever comes first. Before treating this as a five-year plan, check how long the Judge concerned has left on the bench. A researcher who joins a Judge with eighteen months remaining gets eighteen months, however good the work. That is not a criticism of the scheme; it is simply how these attachments are structured, and it is the single most useful thing to know before applying.
What the Work Actually Involves
A Legal Researcher attached to a Judge of the High Court is expected to:
- Read case files and prepare case summaries and a chronology of events;
- Conduct legal research on statutes, precedents and principles arising in listed matters;
- Compile relevant case law, articles and research material;
- Prepare notes of arguments and case briefs;
- Identify the legal and factual issues emerging during hearings;
- Maintain records of judgments and significant legal points;
- Assist with administrative correspondence and judicial files; and
- Assist the Judge in the preparation of speeches and academic papers.
For anyone intending to sit the judiciary examinations, this is close to ideal preparation — you spend a year watching how a High Court Judge actually reasons through a file, which no amount of coaching reproduces.
How to Apply
Applications are accepted online only, through the Rajasthan High Court's dedicated portal.
- Step 1. Go to rhcexam.rajasthan.gov.in/rhclegalres26/ and click Register Now to create a user account. You may also reach it from hcraj.nic.in → Recruitment → Legal Researcher → Online Application Portal.
- Step 2. Complete the registration form. Your mobile number is verified by OTP, so use a number you have to hand. Note down the username and password.
- Step 3. On the home page, under Ongoing Recruitments, select the name of the Hon'ble Justice — here, Dr. Justice Pushpendra Singh Bhati. This step matters: the same portal is used for engagements with different Judges, so selecting the wrong name means applying for the wrong vacancy.
- Step 4. Fill the application form and upload the photograph and signature. File size must be between 10 KB and 25 KB, and only .jpg / .jpeg are accepted.
- Step 5. Click Save & Make Payment and complete the fee payment through the gateway.
- Step 6. Download and print the application from the My Applications tab.
Two warnings from the Court's own user manual.
Details once saved cannot be corrected. The instructions repeat this twice. Fill the form slowly and check it before saving — there is no edit facility of the kind other portals provide.
Filling the form is not the same as submitting it. In the Court's words, successful filling of the online application "doesn't mean the Successful Submission of Form unless successful Payment of requisite fee." If you cannot download the printout from My Applications, your application has not gone through. Check this before you close the browser.
Helpline: 0291-2888100 and 0291-2888101 during office hours. All correspondence is to be addressed to the Registrar (Examination), Rajasthan High Court, Jodhpur.
Should You Apply?
If you are a fresh graduate or an LL.M. holder who has not yet started practice, and you can be in Jodhpur, this is a strong opening: Rs. 50,000 a month, a year inside a High Court Judge's chamber, and a realistic path to several more. One post against a national applicant pool makes it competitive, but the eligibility conditions thin the field considerably — every practising advocate is excluded.
If you are already in practice, weigh it honestly. Suspending a sanad to take a contractual role is a real trade, and the tenure is capped by the Judge's retirement rather than by your performance.
Either way, the decision has to be made today or tomorrow. Applications close on 20 August 2026.
Disclaimer: This post relates to the Rajasthan High Court, Jodhpur notification for contractual engagement as Legal Researcher for deputation with Hon'ble Dr. Justice Pushpendra Singh Bhati, and is provided for general information only. It is not an official publication and has no connection with the Rajasthan High Court. The number of posts, age limit, qualification and last date are as reported at the time of writing. The official advertisement for this engagement is a scanned document which could not be machine-read, and the honorarium, tenure, extension, leave, disqualification and application-fee particulars stated above reflect the terms on which the Rajasthan High Court has notified Legal Researcher engagements during 2026 under the same recruitment portal. They are given as a guide only and may differ in this advertisement. Candidates must read the complete official notification on hcraj.nic.in and on the application portal, and must satisfy themselves as to eligibility, terms and the exact closing date and time before applying. Nothing here should be relied upon in place of the official document, and this is not legal or career advice. Please read our Disclaimer for more details.
