Kolkata, Jul 14 (IANS): His first preference will always be shooting, but India's ace pistol shooter Abhishek Verma, in his bid to go back to the court room, has applied with The Bar Council of India for a license to start his law practice.

The lawyer-turned-shooter who had secured an Olympic quota place by winning the 10m air pistol gold medal at the Beijing World Cup in April last year will have to appear for an examination to get his application approved in August.

"I had applied last week. I have to give a Bar Council exam and after that I can start practice in court," Verma told IANS on Tuesday from his Chandigarh home.

"The exam will be in August. After that, I will start practising under a senior lawyer," the 30-year old two-time World Cup gold medallist added.

The National Rifles Association of India (NRAI) has already said that its plans of proposing dates for a national camp to the Sports Authority of India (SAI) at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range after reviewing the situation on July 15 remains on.

SAI had announced earlier that the range will be open for athletes in the mix for the Tokyo Olympics.

"For the moment, I am practising shooting at home. And shooting will always be my first priority. Now until the camp begins, I will stay at home and also practice law," said Verma who also holds a BTech in computer science.