A career as a judge can be attained through two levels.

One is the lower Judiciary

where fresh graduates get selected through entrance examinations conducted
by the Public service Commission of each state or the Higher Judiciary which
requires a minimum of seven years of practice in the Bar.

The Judicial Service Examination consists of two levels and a Viva Voce test. The
first examination is the Judicial Service Preliminary Examination and the next one
is the Judicial Service Mains Examination. The candidates shortlisted from the
prelims will be eligible to appear for the Main exam. The final merit list is based
on both these levels along with the marks obtained in the personality test.
Certain states have a requirement of minimum marks in the viva voce test,
whereas other states aggregate it to the marks of the Mains and prelims.

Syllabus for preliminary examination

The preliminary examination generally consists of questions from the
following subjects:

 General Knowledge and Current Affairs

 Proficiency In English Language and Aptitude
 Constitutional law
 IPC, CPC, CrPC and The Indian Evidence Act
 Contract Law and Tort Law
 Transfer of Property law
 Apart from these, some states cover certain other topics in their
syllabus as follows:
 Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Jammu and Kashmir, Maharashtra,
Manipur, and Nagaland: Proficiency in the official language of Assam
 Bihar: Elementary general Science, Administrative law, Hindu and
Muslim personal laws, Principles of Equity, Law of trusts, Specific
Relief Act, Commercial law
 Chhattisgarh:  Accommodation Control Act, Court fees act,
Registration Act and Chhattisgarh Land revenue code, Limitation,
and Specific relief acts
 Delhi: Principles Governing Arbitration Law, the Partnership Act
 Goa: Sales of Goods Act, Land laws of Goa, The Scheduled Tribe and
Scheduled Caste (Prevention of Atrocities Act, 1989)
 Karnataka: Karnataka Rent Act
 Kerala: Kerala Building (Lease and Rent Control) Act
 Madhya Pradesh: Madhya Pradesh Accommodation Control Act,
Madhya Pradesh Land Revenue Code

Syllabus for the Main examination

 The syllabus for the Main examination of Judiciary also varies
according to each state. The patterns are as follows:
 1. Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Nagaland, Mizoram,
Maharashtra, and Jammu & Kashmir
 Paper I (To test English; 100 marks, 2 hours):  Essay, precise writing,
Grammar
 Paper II ( To test General Knowledge; 100 marks,2 hours): Objective
test, Aptitude Test
 Paper III (Law; 100marks, 2 hours): Transfer of Property, Civil
procedure code, Indian Contract Act, Constitution of India
 Paper IV (Law; 100 marks, 2 hours): Indian Penal Code, CrPC, Law of
Torts, Indian Evidence Act
 2. Bihar
 Part I: Compulsory Paper- General knowledge including current
affairs (150 marks), Elementary Science (100marks), General Hindi
(100 marks ), General English(100 marks ), Law of evidence and
procedure( 150 marks)
 Hindi and English are compulsory papers but only qualifying in
nature which requires only 30 marks out of 100
 Part II: Optional paper(150 marks each)- Constitutional Law of India
and England(, Hindu and Muslim Law, Transfer of property,
Principles of Equity, Law of trusts and Specific Relief Act, Law of
Contract and Torts, Commercial law
 3. Chhattisgarh
 Framing of issues and writing of judgment in Civil Cases (40 marks)
 Framing of charges and writing of judgment in Criminal Cases
(40marks)
 Translation: English to Hindi (10marks), Hindi to English(10marks)
 4. Delhi 
 Paper I: General Knowledge and Language (250 marks) – Current
affairs, Essay, Translation, and precise writing
 Paper II: Civil Law I( 200 marks)- Indian Contract Act, Indian Sale of
Goods Act, Indian Partnership Act, Specific Relief Act, Hindu Law,
Muslim Law, Delhi Rent control Act and Law of Torts
 Paper III: Civil law II (200 marks)- Civil Procedure Code, Law of
evidence, Law of Limitation and Law of Registration
 Paper III: Criminal Law (200 marks) -Criminal Procedure Code, Indian
penal code and Indian Evidence Act
 5. Goa
 Paper I: The Indian Contract act, 1872, The Specific Relief Act, 1963,
The Limitation Act, 1963, Sales of Goods Act, 1930, Indian
Partnership Act, 1932, The Code of Civil Procedure Code, 1908,
Transfer of Property Act, 1882, The Easement Act,1882, Family Laws
in Goa , Land Laws in Goa
 Paper II: The code of Criminal procedure Code, 1973, The Indian
Penal Code, 1860 The Evidence Act,1872, The Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, The
Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, Essay on Current Legal Topics
 6. Haryana and Punjab
 Paper I: Civil Law I( 200 marks)-Code of Civil procedure, Punjab
Courts Act, Indian Contract Act, Indian Sale of Goods Act, Indian
Partnership Act, Specific Relief Act
 Paper II: Civil Law II (200 marks)- Hindu Law, Muslim Law and
Customary Law, Law of Registration and Limitation
 Paper III: Criminal Law (200 marks)- Indian Penal Code, Code of
Criminal procedure, Indian Evidence Act
 Paper IV:  English- Essay (25 marks), Words and phrases (25 marks),
Comprehension (25 marks), Corrections (25 marks)
 Paper V: Language- Hindi in Devanagari Script (100/150 marks)
 7. Himachal Pradesh
 Paper I: Civil Law I( 200 marks)-Code of Civil procedure, Indian
Stamp Act, Indian Evidence Act, Himachal Pradesh Courts Act,
Specific Relief Act
 Paper II: Civil Law II (200 marks)- Indian Contract Act, Hindu Law,
Transfer of Property Act, Himachal Pradesh Urban Rent Control Act,
Indian Limitation Act
 Paper III: Criminal Law (200 marks)- Indian Penal Code, Code of
Criminal procedure, Chapter XVII of  Negotiable Instruments Act, HP
Excise Act, Wildlife Protection Act, Indian Forest Act
 Paper IV:  English Composition (200 marks)
 Paper V: Language (100 marks)
 8. Jharkhand
 Paper I: Indian Penal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure Code, Indian
Evidence Act, Limitation Act
 Paper II: Civil Procedure Code, Transfer of Property, Indian Contract
Act, Sales of Goods Act, Arbitration and Conciliation Act
 Paper III: Hindu Law, Muslim Law, Rent Control Law, Specific Relief
Act, and Jurisprudence
 Paper IV: Hindi and English
 9. Karnataka
 Paper I: Translation Paper (100 marks) – Depositions, Judgments,
and Documents
 Paper II: Law paper I (100 marks) – Civil procedure Code, Criminal
Procedure Code, Indian Evidence Act, Principles of Pleading and
Indian Constitution
 Paper III: Law paper II (100 marks) – Framing of issues and writing
judgments in civil cases
 Paper IV: Law paper III (100 marks)-Framing of charges and writing
judgments in criminal cases
 10. Kerala
 Paper I: English Grammar, General Essays, Translation of Malayalam
Documents and Depositions to English, Precise writing
 Paper II: Indian Contract Act, Transfer of Property, Limitation Act,
Specific Relief Act, Easements Act, Kerala Building Act, Hindu
Succession Act, Indian Succession Act, Dissolution of Muslim
Marriage Act, Kerala Court Fees and Suits Valuation Act, Kerala
Stamp Act, Legal Services Authorities act, The Kerala Panchayatha
Raj Act, Kerala Municipality Act, Negotiable Instruments Act and
Registration Act
 Paper III- Indian Penal Code, Indian Evidence Act, Abkari Act,
Negotiable Instruments Act, the Protection of Women from Domestic
Violence Act, Juvenile Justice Act, Kerala Police Act, Probation of
Offenders Act, Forest Act, NDPS Act
 Paper IV: Code of Civil Procedure, Civil Rules of Practice, Kerala Civil
Courts Act Code of criminal procedure, Criminal Rules of Practice,
Framing of charges and issues, Judgment writing
 11. Madhya Pradesh:
 Paper I: Civil Law and procedure
 Paper II: Criminal law and procedure
 Paper III: Writing Skill, Court Practice, Translation, and Current Legal
Knowledge
 Paper V: Judgment writing
 12. Odisha
 Paper I: General English
 Paper II: Procedural laws- Civil procedure code, Criminal procedure
code, Indian Evidence Act
 Paper III: Optional papers- Law of Crime and Law of torts, Hindu and
Muslim Law, Law of property, Law of Contract, Jurisprudence, and
Constitution of India
 13. Rajasthan
 Paper I: Law paper I- Constitution of India, Civil procedure Code<
Contact law, Tort laws, Motor vehicle law, Rent control law, Personal
laws, Law of Transfer of Property
 Paper II: Law paper II- Criminal law, Narcotic Law, Law relating to
cybercrimes and electricity theft, Law of probation, Law on juvenile
delinquency
 Paper III: Language paper I- Hindi essay writing and grammar
 Paper IV: Language paper II- English essay writing, translation, and
grammar
 14. Sikkim
 Paper I: Procedural law, Local law, Indian evidence Act, Limitation
Act
 Paper II: Hindu Law, Contract law, Sales of goods act, Partnership
Act, Specific Relief Act, General Clauses Act, transfer of property
Act, Indian Penal Code, Constitutional law
 15. Uttarakhand
 Paper I: Substantive Law
 Paper II: Evidence and procedure
 Paper III: Revenue and criminal law
 Paper IV: The present-day- Current affairs and general knowledge
 Paper V: Language
 16. Uttar Pradesh
 Paper I: General knowledge- History of India and Indian Culture,
Geography of India, Indian Polity, Indian economy, international
affairs
  Paper II: Law- Jurisprudence, International Organizations, Indian
constitution, Transfer of property, Indian Evidence Act, Code of
criminal procedure, Code of Civil procedure, Contract laws
 17. West Bengal
 Paper I: Compulsory papers- English composition, Bengali, general
knowledge, Civil law, Criminal law, Contract law, Transfer of
Property Act
 Paper II: Optional papers- Hindu law, Muslim law, Jurisprudence and
principles of legislation, Laws relating to companies and insurance,
Law of trusts and Specific relief, Partnership Act, Law of limitation,
Constitutional law

MADHYA PRADESH

Syllabus – Online Preliminary Exam – Madhya Pradesh Civil Judge

Exam (Judicial Magistrate First Class )

The Online Preliminary Examination is for two hours, with 150 objective-
type questions of one mark each. The break-up is as below:

 Constitution of India – 10 questions

 Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 – 15 questions
 Transfer of Property Act, 1882 – 7 questions
 Indian Contract Act, 1872 – 8 questions
 Specific Relief Act, 1963 – 6 questions
 Limitation Act, 1963 – 4 questions
 MP Accommodation Control Act, 1961 – 5 questions
 MP Land Revenue Code, 1959 – 5 questions
 Indian Evidence Act, 1872 – 15 questions
 Indian Penal Code, 1861 – 15 questions
 Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 – 15 questions
 Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 – 5 questions
 General Knowledge – 20 questions
 Computer Knowledge – 10 questions
 English Knowledge – 10 questions

Syllabus for the Main Written Exam – Madhya Pradesh Civil Judge
Exam

The Main Examination consists of four Question Papers each paper

carrying 100 marks (Total of 400 marks). The time period for each
question paper will be of 3 hours.

First Question Paper: (Marks – 100)

Constitution of India
Code of Civil Procedure, 1908
Transfer of Property Act, 1882
Indian Contract Act, 1872
Specific Reliefs Act, 1963 (I, II and VI to VIII)
Limitation Act, 1963 (Parts II & III)

Second Question Paper: (Marks – 100)

Writing on Social Issue- 30 marks

Writing on Legal Issue- 20 marks
Precis Writing- 20 marks
Translation (Hindi to English)- 15 marks
Translation (English to Hindi)- 15 marks

Third Question Paper: (Marks – 100)

MP Accommodation Control Act, 1961

MP Land Revenue Code, 1959
Indian Evidence Act, 1872
Indian Penal Code, 1860
Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973
Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881

Fourth Question Paper: (Marks – 100)

Framing of Issues- 10 marks

Framing of Charges- 10 marks
Judgement / Order (Civil) Writing- 40 marks ( Civil Judge II Class level )
Judgement / Order (Criminal) Writing- 40 marks ( Judicial Magistrate First
Class Level )

Note : For the Judgement / Order writing, a Plaint, Written Statement,

Charge Sheet and Complaint will be provided as applicable.

Viva-voce (Personal Interview)

The maximum marks for viva-voce are 50.

Note: Only the marks from the main exam and the viva-voce will be used
for arriving at the final rankings.