Judicial Services-Making your way into your dream state

A state Judicial Services exam is not a student convenient process like the JAIIB exam where even if you fail in one of the steps you can straightaway jump to preparing for the part of the exam where you have failed, you have to reboot yourselves and start afresh, right from the stage where you kick-started, i.e., the preliminary rounds. So it is wise to chalk out the certain genre of states as the targeted end towards which you prepare. Just like the trend of dream destinations has set in for tourism purposes, it is prudent for you to go through the syllabus of all the states to select your dream states!

While for the aspirants who are adept at certain regional languages spoken in some states, there is no room for selection; their command over their language can be the most determining factor for targeting only their language-specific state. For instance, an aspirant comfortable in Malayalam will find it easier to clear Kerala Judicial Services as the candidates who are ill-informed of this language would be out of the competition as a natural corollary. But it is difficult to weed out candidates in exams that require proficiency in Hindi and English language as most of the aspirants hailing from Hindi speaking states like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan and Union Territories like Delhi and Chandigarh are comfortable in reading and writing in both these languages and hence decide to put up a fight for all such Judicial Services Exams wherein both these language papers are required to be written. 

Besides, another important factor while choosing your dream state is that the syllabus which you, as an aspirant, are required to cover when preparing for a state must at least match with the syllabus of some other states so that the chances of acing anyone of such states is higher. Let us presume that the syllabus is a large circle and all such states that can fit into this circle like a Tinder Match can rightly be targeted by an aspirant.

Now, here we present everything about a few states for you that may in the future come into your jurisdiction. 

1. Rajasthan Judicial Services

Certain states like Rajasthan Judicial Services have certain law subjects and language papers, that’s all! It requires no general knowledge preparation from an aspirant, hence preparing for it can be comparatively easier for you as an aspirant. For appearing in the exam conducted by Rajasthan, you must be an Indian citizen and must have obtained a Bachelors’s degree in law from a recognized university or institute. Additionally, a candidate must not be more than 35 years of age and not less than 23 years.

 The subjects that one has to prepare for this state are:

• Code of Civil Procedure, l908,
• The Constitution of India, 1950,
• Indian Contract Act, 1872,
• The Indian Evidence Act, 1872,
• The Limitation Act, 1963,
• The Specific Relief Act, 1963,
• The Transfer of Property Act, 1882,
• Interpretation of Statutes,
• The Rajasthan Rent Control Act, 2001,
• The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973,
• The Indian Penal Code, 1860,
• The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015,
• The Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881- only Chapter XVII,
• The Probation of Offenders Act, 1958,
• Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005
• Finally, order or judgment writing.

Apart from these subjects, the preliminary rounds in this state also require some adeptness in English and Hindi grammar. Coming to the Mains examination stage, it is pertinent to note that the language papers comprising of Hindi and English are required to be cleared along with the subjective writing of the law papers. For the purposes of writing mains, the law papers as above stated are distributed into two separate papers and required to be answered in subjective format.

All the marks obtained in these four papers are added up to the final consolidated marks. This brings you to contemplate how far do you need to work upon the language papers, well, the answer is simple, as the marks obtained in the language papers are added to the consolidated marks unlike in Bihar Judicial Services where the language papers are only of qualifying nature. It is therefore required to be approached systematically and as diligently as a candidate prepares for other law papers.

The focus must be on updating oneself routinely on social issues and interconnecting them with the law and allied government schemes and measures so as to frame a decent essay-based answer, for instance, women empowerment has always been a favorite essay topic for many language papers. Similarly, environmental pollution has constantly found its place in the essay bucket, hence getting hold of the latest data on these topics by learning the stand of international bodies on such social issues, survey data and laudable actions to alleviate them that are undertaken by many would be a sound approach to producing a well-informed essay in the answer sheet.   

In the interview stage, you are mostly tested on your personality traits and confidence, moreover, certain questions pertaining to legal concepts and general ideas about the dialects, culture and practices peculiar to Rajasthan are asked to determine the suitability of the candidate as a prospective Civil Judge.

2. Madhya Pradesh Judicial Services

Similarly, Madhya Pradesh Judicial Services requires you to be not more than 35 years and not less than 21 years for appearing in the exam along with an LLB degree from a recognized institution and Indian citizenship. The subjects that you need to prepare for this state is more or less similar to what is asked in Rajasthan, nonetheless, 20 markers of general knowledge and 10 markers of computer and English knowledge-based question are also asked. That apart, the law subjects that you need to cover for this state are:

• Code of Civil Procedure, l908,
• The Constitution of India,
• Indian Contract Act, 1872,
• The Indian Evidence Act, 1872,
• The Limitation Act, 1963,
• The Specific Relief Act, 1963,
• The Transfer of Property Act, 1882,
• The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973,
• The Indian Penal Code, 1860,
• The Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881,
• MP Accommodation Control Act, 1961,
• MP Land Revenue Code, 1959

Hence only certain law papers are different, relating mostly with regional local laws. 

In light of the pattern in Rajasthan, this state also distributes its law papers into two separate papers to be written during mains examination along with a translation in Hindi to English and vice versa. Importantly, another paper deals with writing judgment, by framing issues and charges. There are many resources available presently for the purposes of preparing for the general knowledge and computer section of this state, for instance, Lucent’s General Knowledge Question Bank. Meanwhile, it is important to keep in mind that framing issues, charges and judgment is an art that needs constant practice, hence you must regularly keep practicing in order to attempt this paper well.

The interview stage is mostly similar to Rajasthan and you must be aware of the culture of Madhya Pradesh along with being abreast of legal knowledge.

3. Bihar Judicial Services

While both the above-mentioned states do not require must command over general knowledge, both Bihar and Uttar Pradesh exams require you to be updated with general science, static general knowledge, and current affairs at both preliminary and mains examination stages. In order to make yourself prepared with this section, Lucent’s General Knowledge, Upkars’ General Knowledge and Ghatnachakra General Knowledge series can be referred to. 

Coming to the law papers of Bihar Judicial Services examination, the mains examination is subjective and is quite peculiar as you can choose while filling up the form the optional papers of 150 marks each that you are willing to attempt in the mains examination, the following options are provided for a candidates’ choice:

• Constitutional and Administrative Laws
• Law of Transfer of Property / Principles of Equity / Law of Trusts and Specific Relief
• Family Law
• Law of Contracts & Torts
• Commercial Law
• Out of the above-mentioned, three optional papers have to be selected. That apart, there are certain compulsory papers that you have to mandatorily write in the mains examination, they are:
• Law of evidence and procedure paper of 150 marks that includes the following:
• Indian Evidence Act, 1872
• Civil Procedure Code, 1908
• Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996
• Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 
• Provincial Small Cause Courts Act, 1887

General Studies inclusive of History, Geography in a 150 marked question paper and General Science of 100 marks.

General English and General Hindi each being a qualifying paper only, i.e., only 33 marks have to be secured in both these papers out of 100 marks. Finally, the interview process is conducted for 100 marks. The eligibility criteria for appearing in Bihar Judicial Services is similar to that in Uttar Pradesh and the candidate must range around 22-35 years of age for appearing in the examination and must have completed your law degree from a recognized institution.  

 4. Uttar Pradesh Judicial Services

The pattern of Uttar Pradesh Judicial Services significantly matches the syllabus of Bihar Judicial Services as even in this state you have to give ample amount of focus to general knowledge, in both objective and subjective terms. The eligibility criteria for writing this exam is a minimum age limit of 22 years and a maximum of 35 years, nevertheless, this age scheme is relaxed for the reserved category candidates, for instance, Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Castes and Other Backward Classes up to 5 years. 

This state also holds exams in both law and general studies paper that is wider in ambit than Bihar Judicial Services as it also entails questions on international bodies and international affairs and space technology. Coming to the law subjects, it has no concept of optional papers and the syllabus is comparatively wider. The language paper in Hindi and English is of 200 marks. It also includes the Indian Penal Code, 1870, Jurisprudence and certain local laws of Uttar Pradesh in its examination, for instance:

• Uttar Pradesh Urban (Planning and Development) Act 1973
• UP Consolidation of Holding Act, 1953
• Uttar Pradesh Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Act 1951, 
• Urban Buildings (Regulation of Letting, Rent, and Eviction) Act, 1972
• Uttar Pradesh Municipalities Act, 1916
• UP Panchayat Raj Act, 1947

5. Haryana Judicial Services

Last but not least amongst the bucket list would be Haryana Judicial Services which is about to take place shortly.  A negative marking of 0.80 marks is unique to Haryana state’s preliminary exams for attempting one wrong answer, hence it is most likely for you to approach the paper without generating the desired outcome. Against this backdrop, we routinely fetch aspirants with mock tests crafted exclusively for assisting to ace this exam. You have to secure a minimum of 150 marks out of 500, for securing a place in the general category and 100 marks if you are counted in the reserved category.  The questions asked would mostly revolve around subjects that are asked in the main’s examination and distributed into four papers, they being:

• Paper-I – Civil Law- I; consisting of the following law subjects-, Civil Procedure Code, 1908, Indian Contract Act, 1872, Indian Partnership Act, 1955, Sale of Goods Act, 1930, Specific Relief Act, 1930, Punjab Courts Act, 1918 and Haryana Urban (Control of Rent and Eviction) Act 1973.
• Paper-II – Civil Law-II; consisting of Hindu Law, Mohammedan Law, Customary Laws of Registration and Limitation.
• Paper-III – Criminal Law; consisting of Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, Indian Evidence Act, 1872, Indian Penal Code, 1860
• Paper-IV – English paper consisting of Essays, precis writing and comprehension writing 
• Paper-V – Hindi paper which involves translating English passages into Hindi along with idioms, phrases and corrections. 

Nonetheless, it is important to keep in mind that a general category candidate has to secure a minimum of 50% of the aggregate marks at the mains stage while 40% is the minimum that a candidate contesting in a reserved category has to secure to face the interview or viva voce round.

The upshot of the argument is that it is safe to select your literary skills in a language and prepare a dream chart by starting with all the grey areas which are common to two or more states and increasing your chances of clearing any one of such dream states and finally find a place in the merit list of any one of these states. 

So happy learning!

Keep Practicing.