Basics of Judicial Exams

A basic google search on judicial examination will not bring you the information you had hoped for. The fact that you have landed up here, shows that you followed all the hits and have specific goals and objectives. That is a very good thing. It tells me that you are willing to put in the effort that is required and secondly that you are willing to use the internet to your advantage.

Every state has its own pattern and own syllabus. For example Delhi and Haryana have objective type of questions in the prelims and subjective Mains. Rajasthan (Mains) have to be given in a question and answer booklet with limited space. In Haryana (Mains), you will get only one answer booklet for the entire paper. Should you use it unwisely, you will not be able to answer the rest of the questions.

The point of letting you know this is not to scare or confuse you. More often than not, the recent graduates are already used to a particular format of answering a paper.  This information is being given to help you adjust to the thought of a new pattern faster.

Given below, is a point wise introduction to the judicial examinations:

1. Every state has it’s own judicial examinations. In most cases, they are overseen by the particular High Court in consultation/co-ordination with the State Public Commission.

2. The examination pattern is keeping in mind the posts advertised. The blog, presently, does not contain information for ADJ examinations etc.

3. You should, ideally speaking, first prepare for the Mains and then for the Preliminary. In case of a time crunch, three months is more than sufficient to see you through if you have a decent background with the subjects. Again, this might be sufficient in Haryana where the number of subjects are lesser but insufficient in Rajasthan with 40+ legislation being tested. Others like Delhi or UP have a GK component, that can increase the time you must spend of studying.

4. For Mains, stress on fundamentally understanding the material. Sections and unrelated specifics can be ignored as most examinations will provide a bare act during the course of the paper. It is your familiarity with the bare act, questioning attitude for the rationale behind usage of words or sentences in statements and problems as well as generally knowledge of application of a section will see you through with flying colors.

5. For example, reading the bare act time and again, being aware of what lies where and the ability to remember information from the index of sections consitutes familiarity with the bare act. The questioning attitude will help you in your Law Mains, the Essays, the GK paper as well as the interview. Do not ignore it. If you have not studied a particular point, this attitude will help you eliminate the wrong options. Understanding application of sections will come through pursuing commentaries and digest or by following cases in the related fields.

6. For preliminary examinations, we have to have an overview of the subjects and good knowledge about the landmark cases and the history of legal setup in India and abroad. For example, Who was the first Chief Justice of India? Where is the International Court of Justice situated? How many judges are there in the ICJ? etc. Illustrations and important provios should never be ignored.

7. Along with the Law syllabus (which is different for different states), you will have papers for Hindi and English. These will include Essays, Comprehension, Proverbs and Grammer etc.

The judicial examinations are easy to crack provided you have studied and understood the core principles of law. I am here to help you try and recognise these as well as provide free sample question papers, previous years question papers(solved) and any other information that you will require to prepare for the examinations.

Please note that the views expressed here are my own and not subscribed to by any Commission or Examining Authority. I am only providing information based on my experience. In case of doubt, please do not use any of this material for I am not, in any manner whatsoever, guaranteeing success. Thus, I will not be liable for any loss, if any, occurs due to information presented on this blog or advice given by me. I am only trying to equip you with the tools I have found helpful.