This article is written by Harsh Jain. Along with holding degrees in LLB, and LLM, Harsh is NET, JRF qualified. Harsh has successfully cleared Rajasthan Judicial Services, Mains Examination, Gujarat Judicial Services pre, SBI specialist law officer scale II online exam and many other competitive examinations. Many of his students are posted as ADJs, JMs, MMs, Lecturers, APPs, etc. Also, Harsh is pursuing Diploma in Entrepreneurship Administration and Business Laws from NUJS, Kolkata. This article is a guide on how to clear Gujarat Judicial Services Examination.

Gujarat Judicial Services exam is one of the toughest exams to crack. Looking from outside it may appear a very easy exam to crack, but when we see there trend we get to know that there are very less candidates being selected, then there are vacancies. Let’s find out if the exam is really that tough to crack down or you have to approach it in some different way to crack it.

First of all few statistics:

What if I say that you have more then 100% chances of cracking GJS? Yes, this is a reality. At Least the figures and data support this statement. When we look at the number of candidates selected as compared to vacancies we find that there are lot more vacancies than candidates are being selected. Recruitment process of GJS 2017 has just completed on 25th March 2018.

Year of examination	Number of vacancies Declared	Number of candidates who got selected in GJS pre	Number of candidates who cleared mains	Number of candidates who finally got selected
2016	112 (12 regular and 100 Ad-hoc)	86	31	24 (12 regular and 12 ad-hoc)
2017	129(97 regular and 32 Ad-hoc)	519	69	Result awaited

 

From the above table, only you can observe that what is the situation.

But the other side of the coin is that as you start clearing the different stages one by one, your chance starts becoming more than 100%.

Eligibility:

• You must possess a Degree of Law from any University which is recognized by law in India.
• Must be practicing as an Advocate in Courts of Civil and/or Criminal Jurisdiction on the last date fixed for submission of Online Application. You must be a practicing advocate in any civil or criminal court in India on or before the last date of submission of online application for examination.
• You must possess a certificate for having basic skills of computer applications/ operation issued by a government institute or other recognized institute as prescribed by Government of Gujarat in General Administrative Department Resolution No. PRCH-102005-1532-K, dated 30/09/2006 and Resolution No.CRR-10-2007-120320-G.5 dated 13/08/2008.
• Age limit:

Category	Upper Age limit (in years)
General	35
SC, ST, SEBC, Orthopedically disabled persons and ex-servicemen	38
Employees working in the Courts or other Allied Departments	40

Syllabus and Scheme of exam:

The whole process of examination is divided into three stages, i.e., Preliminary examination, Mains examination, and interview/ viva voice. Details are as follows:

Preliminary examination:

Pre is an elimination test of 100 marks, and you will get 2 hours to solve these 100 questions. These questions will be of multiple choice type. You will be awarded one mark for each correct answer and, 0.33 mark will be deducted (negative marking) for each wrong answer. 25 questions out of these 100 questions will be in Gujarati language only, and all remaining 75 questions will be in English language only. Pre can be divided into three major parts. Part A, B, and C. Details for each part is as follows:

Part A:

Indian Penal Code	The Code of Criminal Procedure
The Indian Evidence Act	The Negotiable Instruments Act (Only Chapter XVII)
The Gujarat Prohibition Act

 

Part B:

The Code of Civil Procedure	The Limitation Act
The Indian Contract Act	The Constitution of India – [Part-III – Fundamental Rights (Articles 12 to 35A) & Part-IVA – Fundamental Duties]

 

Part C:

General Knowledge	English Language
Test of Reasoning	Numerical & Mental Ability
Basics of Computer Applications

 

Mains examination:

If you clear pre than you will have to appear for mains examination. Mains exam will be divided into three papers, i.e., Criminal paper, Civil paper and Language paper, and there will be 7-8 question in each paper of law while 5-6 questions in language paper. Law papers will of 2.5 hours each and maximum marks are 75 each and language paper will be of 2 hours duration, and maximum marks are 50. Paper 1 and 2 (law papers) will come only in the English language, and you can answer them in English or Gujarati language only, while language paper will be only in the Gujarati language. The syllabus is as follows:

Paper 1 (Criminal):

The Indian Penal Code	The Code of Criminal Procedure
The Indian Evidence Act	The Probation of Offenders’ Act
The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act	The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act,
The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act	Pre-conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act
The Negotiable Instruments Act (Only Ch.XVII)	The Registration of Births and Deaths Act
The Gujarat Prevention of Gambling Act

 

Paper 2 (Civil):

The Code of Civil Procedure	The Limitation Act
The Indian Contract Act	The Indian Partnership Act
The Specific Relief Act	The Gujarat Court Fees Act

 

Paper 3:

જોડણી	સમાનાર્થી અને વિરૂધ્ધાર્થી શબ્દો
રૂઢિપ્રયોગોના અર્થ અને વાક્યપ્રયોગ, વગેરે (આ વિભાગનું ધોરણ ગુજરાત સેકેન્ડરી એજ્યુકેશન બોર્ડના ધોરણ-12 ના ગુજરાતી વિષય (ઉચ્ચતર કક્ષા) ની સમકક્ષ રહેશે.).	ભાષાંતર (ગુજરાતીમાંથી અંગ્રેજી અને અંગ્રેજીમાંથી ગુજરાતી)

 

For your convenience, I am giving a translated version of this, but that is solely for giving you an idea regarding the syllabus and actual things may vary from this:

Jodni (sort of sandhi in Hindi)	Samanarthi and Virudharthi shabd
Rudhiprayog and vakyaprayog etc. ( this will be equivalent to the class 12th level of Gujarat Secondary Education Board).	Bhashantar, i.e., Translation ( from Gujarati to English and from English to Gujarati).

Viva-Voice:

In viva, your mental alertness, knowledge of the law, clear and logical exposition, a balance of judgment, skills, attitude, ethics, the power of assimilation, the power of communication, character and intellectual depth and the like will be judged.

How to deal with Preliminary examination:

The preliminary exam is the most tricky part of the whole recruitment process. In it, you have to deal not only with legal questions but also with the question related to GK, maths, reasoning, etc. These are generally weak points for law candidates. If we see it from all India perspective, then we will find that all the candidates are not well acquainted with English and Gujarati languages. When these questions are combined with maths, reasoning, etc. then they become even tougher. Many candidates don’t even fill the forms due to this factor.

But here I have good news for you. You have to score just 50% marks in pre, and you get qualified for mains. In other words, there is no cut off for GJS pre. Every candidate who scores more than 50% marks in pre, qualified for mains. They select 10 to 15 times of the declared vacancies candidates. But the bad news is that if you see the statistics table above, you will find that even that much candidates are not being able to qualify for mains.

Dealing with these issues is not as difficult as it appears. Let’s break-up the pre syllabus in parts and find out how to deal with them.

Legal questions:

These questions are of average toughness level generally. Few are very tough while few are very easy also. Don’t get misled by just seeing the questions in a normal manner. These questions come only in two languages, i.e., the English language (75 questions) and the Gujarati language (remaining 25). Sometimes it is observed by students that questions in the Gujarati language maybe even up to 30+. But students are not allowed to take pre-paper out of the examination hall, and hence, no statement can be made on this issue authoritatively.

It is very challenging for students from many parts of India who are from Hindi medium or some other language background to deal with these questions. It becomes even more difficult even for English medium students to deal with these questions when they are asked in the Gujarati language.

To deal with this issue, you will have to make some strategies. There are some questions from local acts of Gujarat also. Just remember that The Gujarat Prohibition Act is only in pre and it is not covered in the syllabus of mains. There is no need to study it deeply and make detailed notes as it just needs a superficial knowledge. Moreover, it covers only 1-3 marks in the whole paper.

The Constitution is also limited to pre and not covered in mains and in pre also only Part-III – Fundamental Rights (Articles 12 to 35A) & Part-IVA – Fundamental Duties are included in the syllabus. So you don’t have to study Constitution deeply.

They have a very limited syllabus for pre, so you must study all other subjects deeply to have an advantage. There are questions based on Section numbers, case laws, etc. also. So you must possess a good knowledge of at least leading and current case laws and important sections of each subject so that it becomes easy for you to attempt them.

Just read the question carefully and if needed, read it twice before attempting. They may be very easy questions with some twist which you can’t recognize at first look. They will tempt you and force you to commit mistakes. Remember, if you attempt it wrongly, then it will cost you a negative 0.33 mark.

General Knowledge:

These questions are generally divided into three parts. First parts consist of questions from Gujarati GK, second consist off questions from current GK and third from general GK. GK has a weightage of 5-7 marks in the paper. If GK is your weakness, it may be difficult for you to deal with these questions. Moreover, it’s not possible and advisable to study such a huge syllabus of GK which does not have any start or end, just for five marks.

English Language:

English language questions are of secondary (10th standard) and senior secondary (12th standard) level of CBSE and Gujarat board. Any student who has even a basic knowledge of English can deal with them. Just buy some grammar books of 10th and 12th CBSE level and practice from them. This is sufficient to attempt these questions. Don’t waste time and money on high-level grammar books as they are not going to help you get good marks at all. Similarly, a basic level vocabulary is enough, you don’t need an excellent sort of vocab to deal with them.

Reasoning:

These are a bit tricky questions. You must practice well to deal with them. They consume your time while attempting your paper and if your reasoning is weak then you may end up getting negative marks for them.

Numerical and Mental Ability:

Just like reasoning, they are also tricky. Although they are just elementary level questions but sometimes, if not attempted carefully, they end up getting negative marks for you.

Basics of Computer Applications:

Some of these questions are so basic that you don’t have to study at all for them. If you have a basic knowledge of computers (which is a must as per terms and conditions of GJS and even a certificate is required), you can attempt them. Other questions are so high standard that only a person having computers as his subject can deal with them. So again you don’t need to study for them also.

Gujarati language questions:

There is not even a single question directly from the Gujarati language. By that, I mean that they do not ask questions based on Gujarati grammar, etc. in the paper. They use Gujarati as a deadly weapon to eliminate students. They just ask the legal questions, reasoning questions, GK, Maths, Computers, etc. in the Gujarati language.

Imagine a person who is not well acquainted with legal Gujarati terminology, which almost all of you would be. Even the simplest of simple questions become very difficult in such conditions. Questions are easy and tempting, but answers are so confusing that you generally end up marking a wrong option due to lack of knowledge of legal Gujarati language and end up getting negative marks.

Similarly, reasoning and maths are already weak points for many candidates. When they are being asked in Gujarati, there is no way you can attempt them. They become a nightmare for candidates during the examination.

Strategy to deal with pre:

You just have to score 50% marks to get eligible for mains. There is no cut-off for pre. If you score 50%, you are going to appear for mains. Every person who scores more than 50%, marks is on equal footing. Marks you score in pre will not be added to mains or your final score. So no matter how high you score, you have no special advantage.

Just identify your weaknesses and strengths in the syllabus. For someone maths and reasoning may be weakness while GK and English may be his strengths. While for other Maths and Reasoning may be strengths. Just concentrate on your strengths and practice them well. Those who have Maths and Reasoning as their strength have the edge over others. As these people score well in these areas, they also attempt current GK and general Gk question which do not need many efforts. They can also score well in English as it only needs basic knowledge. So it becomes very easy for them to get their score above 50% mark.

Knowledge of Gujarati language is a must. You can’t attempt a question if you can’t even understand it. If you’ll try to guess, it may cost you some negative marks also. Learn legal Gujarati terms. They will pay you a lot during the exam. Just read and understand questions asked in Gujarati twice and then answer them.

You can buy some Gujarati language learning books like Rapidex learn to speak Gujarati or Learn to speak Gujarati in 30 days, to learn some basic Gujarati. You can also take some Gujarati coaching if you are in Gujarat. You can find some Gujarati people (neighbors, uncle, aunty, etc.) and request them to teach you basic Gujarati. You can use Youtube channels providing Gujarati language lessons to learn it. You can also use few language learning mobile apps which connect you with Gujarati people who may teach you Gujarati. The most time consuming and difficult thing in the whole process is the Gujarati language. Once you have mastered it, your chances to clear exam increases to a great extent.

For practice, you can purchase or download some Maths, reasoning etc. books in the Gujarati language.

If you have a good command on Gujarati language and at least three out of maths, reasoning, English, GK and computers along with average knowledge of law, probabilities are that you will easily score 50% marks. You just have to attempt questions carefully and avoid getting negative marks. I again repeat, you just have to score 50% to get eligible for mains. Just leave those question where you have any kind of doubt. Questions asked in the examination are of very average level ( neither easy nor hard). If you have good command on Gujarati and any three of five-part-C components you will easily score 50%. Don’t take a risk by attempting doubtful questions as if you get them wrong, you may get eliminated just because of negative marking.

You never know what will come in exam. You also need a plan B in case level of questions turns into hard from Average. In such case, you just have to manage your paper well rest will be automatically done. Just try to sort questions in few categories from the very beginning as you start attempting them.

For, eg. I used to categorize questions in the following manner: first those which I am 100% sure that I know correct answers for them, second those for which I am more than 90% sure about the correct answer, third those which I am more than 75% sure about the correct answer, and forth those for whom I am 50% sure about the correct answer. I used to cross all the other questions which meant that I don’t have to attempt them as there are high chances of answering them wrongly and getting negative marks. Then I used to start marking first category questions. Suppose you got 38 question for which you are 100% sure. Then start marking second category questions. Suppose you got 9 question for which you are almost sure that they are correct. Now start marking third category questions for which you are more than 75% sure that they are correct. Suppose you got 12 questions in this category. This will bring you to 38+9+12= 59 questions. Avoid attempting fourth category questions in such situation. Attempt them only when you have got less than 55 questions in first three categories. Now suppose you got 5 questions wrong out of these 59. Still, you will be getting more than 50% marks which will safely land you into the mains.

Everybody has his own strategy for the exam I have shared mine with you, but you may make a better strategy for yourself. But you must have some sort of strategy in your mind to attempt a competitive exam paper and also a backup plan to deal with new situations that may come as a surprise. Only studies will not get good scores for you. These strategies will bring a lot of value to your studies. It’s only the way you deal with exams which gets you through it.

No coaching is required for GJS pre, and you will just need some good practice material for MCQ pattern questions. There are few books also which are available in the market for this purpose. You can go to the shop and choose the one which is best for you. You must also have a good command of your bare acts.

How to deal with mains examination:

Dealing with mains examination is not as tricky as it is dealing with pre. GJS mains can be cracked only with a bit of preparation in a strategic manner.

Law:

If you have studied well for mains and have your own notes, then they are more than sufficient for mains. Having good command on bare acts is a must for pre as well as mains. Questions which they give in mains are of very basic nature and general. Anybody with a good level of legal preparation for competitive exams can easily attempt these questions.

Gujarati language:

This is the key to clear GJS mains examination. You have to clear this paper if you want to clear GJS. If you successfully clear this paper then there is no one who can stop you from becoming a GJS. To clear this paper, you may need some guidance. As I mentioned above, either you will have to go to Gujarat to specially learn this language by an expert, or you can take help of some Youtube channels and few Gujarati teaching mobile apps and books.

Learning Gujarati is not a difficult task as it is very similar to Hindi. But practicing it is very necessary. You can take help of any Gujarati relative or neighbor or friend to practice Gujarati with you regularly.

Strategy to deal with mains:

Trends have shown that candidates much less than declared vacancies clear GJS mains. That, in turn, means that if you score even the minimum required marks to clear mains then also you will reach up to interview. This also means that as soon as you clear mains you have more than 100% chance to become a GJS as there are more seats and less candidates. So your first target must be to get minimum passing marks in mains anyhow. Minimum pass marks for individual paper is 40% and for overall aggregate is 50%.

For this just make or get some good notes and learn them thoroughly. Secondly, just learn all the bare acts covered in the syllabus as deeply as possible. You must know all the important sections numbers and provisions in them in your mind. You can also read my article on How to crack Rajasthan Judicial Services. In this article, I have given few tips on making and learning notes in a better way and how to remember them. Just purchase past year papers of GJS mains from the market. There is a trend that they give few questions which have been already asked in past year papers.

Just by learning bare acts well, making and learning good notes on all important topics and solving past year papers you will easily get more than 60% marks in law papers in GJS mains.  You will get 7-8 questions in each law paper. Each question has internal choices available. You have to attempt any one of few available choices. You will get a separate copy for each question, and you have to attempt each question in that separate copy allocated for that question only, and no other copy can be used for it.

Take advantage of these choices available in the questions and attempt those which you know the best. It’s because of this reason only that I have advised that even if you learn bare acts, notes on important topics, and past year papers, you will find enough questions in your paper to score at least 60%.

One question in each paper will be based on true and false. In this question, you get two marks for each correct answer, i.e., two marks for just writing a correct true or false and nothing else. You will have to attempt 8-10 question out of given number of questions. This means you may score at least 15-20 marks straight away in few minutes only. This, in turn, means that even if you have scored 15 marks then you have already got 20% marks (maximum marks for law mains is 75) in your bag and now you just have to score remaining 40%. This is why I advise that good knowledge of bare acts is necessary. To score well in these questions, you must also have good knowledge of leading and current case laws. Questions may come directly from them or even indirectly but they will be based on principles and concepts laid down in them.

When you have scored well in law papers now clearing Gujarati paper is just a formality to reach interview. You need at least 20 marks out of 50 marks (40% minimum) to pass in language paper. Now you will again have to purchase some good Gujarati grammar books to learn it. In this paper, you have 30 marks for grammar and 20 marks for translation. In translation also 10 marks for English to Gujarati translation and 10 for Gujarati to English translation. In grammar questions again you will get plenty of choices.

If you again try to find out a reasonable strategy, you will see that English to Gujarati translation is a bit difficult for a candidate who is not Gujarati and who do not have excess to a good teacher of Gujarati language. But if you have a decent command of Gujarati language with your efforts, then you can easily understand what a given Gujarati paragraph is saying. You just have to write it in English which is not a big deal. You can subscribe a Gujarati paper and read at least one legal topic related news in it. It will not only help you to understand the meaning of what is written in Gujarati but also will give you a good knowledge of legal terminology in the Gujarati language. This will help you to attempt English to Gujarati translation as well. You can also download any free Gujarati news app from app store. I had downloaded Sandesh newspaper app from android store ( there are fake apps also, so please download the newspaper app only) if the app is not related to Gujarati news then it’s a fake Sandesh app. You can choose any other Gujarati news app also as per your preferences. There are websites like Tutor India etc. where you can pay per hour charges and take online classes ( many of such websites take a lot of money and may not be that useful to you. I personally do not recommend them. This was mentioned just to provide information to you. In the end, it’s your choice. Be wise enough to choose. There are free and cheap options available, and I and my students have cleared exams using them). 

Similarly, if you have some good grammar books of Gujarati language just try to do as much as possible from them. If you have a good Hindi grammar, then I have a shortcut for you in this. There are partitions in grammar like synonyms, antonyms, sandhi, muhavare, etc. So if you go through the grammar book, you will find that many of them are same as we say in Hindi. For eg., Bhaskar is a synonym for Surya and so on. In the language paper, they just ask you to write only one synonym, antonym, etc. for that work and you have to make a sentence on that word.

In such situation, if you know how to write a Hindi word in Gujarati, you can easily attempt that question. Don’t try to make complex sentences. Just make as simple sentences as possible. Complex sentences may take away some marks from you as probabilities of mistakes increases, while simple sentences ensure good marks as the probability of them being correct is more. Remember they have just asked you to frame a sentence and not to show your Gujarati knowledge.

Again if you have done this in the manner described by me, then there are chances that you will get at least 25 out of 50 and in no case less than 20 marks. Which means that your aggregate marks will be more than 50% and you will be going for an interview.

Interview/ Viva-voice:

An interview is a topic which needs a separate article to be written on it. But still, you can read my article on How to crack Rajasthan Judicial Services where I have given some general tips to crack RJS interview which applies here also. Here I will give some special tips only for GJS interview.

By the time you reach the interview make sure that you have a very good command of the Gujarati language. Even before the interview, a special interview will be taken by a very high-level Judicial Officer regarding your language. He will test your Gujarati reading ( by giving you a complex text in Gujarati to read) and will also ask its meaning from you. He will also ask you to translate few sentences from Gujarati to English and vice versa. He will also tell you to write in Gujarati, English, Hindi, etc. Then he will issue a certificate to you declaring you pass or fail in this test. You will get a chance to face interview even if you fail in this exam, but chances of impressing interview board after failing here are negligible. But there are candidates who have made this also possible.

It doesn’t mean that because your test has been taken and a certificate has been issued, the board will not test your Gujarati skills. Be assured that they will test it at each and every level and only those who will survive these tests will become GJS. Main emphasis and criteria for selection will be Gujarati language only.

To make your Gujarati better I have already told you that you can practice it with some of your Gujarati friends, take help of some Youtube channels or mobile apps and Gujarati language newspapers and news channels also. But all of them are bit boring methods of learning and practicing. So I have found an innovative method to practice Gujarati and have fun. You can subscribe my facebook page (not group) Gujarat Judicial Services where you will get some Gujarati comedy videos. They are generally 5-15 minutes videos. They do not take much of your time. When you get bored studying and need some rest, you can just start a Gujarati comedy video. In that manner, you will not waste your time, and at the same time, your mind will get refreshed. There are reviews of all new movies in the Gujarati language. There are few, and I will be posting more motivational speeches in the Gujarati language. All this will help you to learn and practice Gujarati language but in a lot interesting manner than all the conventional ways.

Also here you will learn the ‘desi Gujarati’ instead of bookish Gujarati, which will give an impression to the examiner that you are a Gujarati person and this may get you some more marks than what you could have got otherwise. You can connect and ask me also there regarding various legal competitive exams as I mentor and guide absolutely free there or you can also develop some innovative ideas of your own to learn Gujarati by yourself.

Conclusion:

Gujarat Judicial Services exam is a very complicated exam. Some people take it very lightly and fail due to overconfidence while some consider it so difficult that they don’t even try to attempt it. In recent trends, we have seen that although vacancies are being declared, but a lot less candidates are being selected then there are vacancies available. This makes it a golden opportunity for those who study strategically and dream to become a judicial officer. Although this exam is designed for English medium Gujarati people or people with a good Gujarati knowledge including those outsiders who have completed their LLB from universities in Gujarat and settled in Gujarat only and have good Gujarati knowledge of Gujarati language, but still if you work with a proper strategy it is possible for you also. In that case, this exam which is most difficult to clear in terms of selected candidates may become the easiest exam to crack for you. For any kind of further mentorship and guidance, you can contact me on my facebook page Gujarat Judicial Services or on my facebook account personally (here) or on my LinkedIn account (here).

Reference:

Latest Advertisement of GJS from the official website of Gujarat High Court: https://hc-ojas.guj.nic.in/AdvtDetailFiles/Civil%20Judge%20Detail%20Advt_2017.pdf