The article is written by Amandeep Singh.

A Career in Uttar Pradesh Judicial Services

“Where there is a Will, There is a Way”

Making a career in the judiciary is the goal of many law students. Some come to law schools with a predetermined mind of becoming a judicial officer and help improve the judicial system. Some build up this thought in law school itself. The Judicial System of our country is structured in such a way that it provides a wide range of opportunities to law students. Judiciary is the third pillar of democracy and it is said to be the most important pillar. Being a part of this pillar is highly honourable and respectable and it provides a plethora of financial and social benefits.

How to become a Judge in the State of Uttar Pradesh?

There are two ways of recruitment as a Judge in the State of Uttar Pradesh. They are as follows:

By competing and qualifying the lower judiciary competitive exam conducted by Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission and;

By competing and qualifying the entry-level competitive exam to Higher Judicial Services after 7 years of experience as an Advocate.

However, this article will be focusing upon the lower judiciary services of the State of Uttar Pradesh which will help the candidates to get a clarity of thoughts and a clear idea as to how they should be preparing for the exam in a holistic manner.

Frequency of occurrence of the exam

It depends upon the number of vacancies estimated by the High Court of Uttar Pradesh. There are years when the exam does not even take place because there is no vacancy. In the last five years, the exam took place just two times due to lack of vacancy. The dates for the preliminary exam tentatively fall between the months of October – February or December – January.

Number of seats

Uttar Pradesh is a big State with around 75 Districts and that is why the number of seats are more in comparison with the small states of the country. But in any case there is a need to finish the pendency of the cases which are increasing on a day to day basis and for this reason there is an urgent need to fill up the vacancy of judges in subordinate courts. The number of seats is determined by the State Government in consultation with the High Court. It depends upon the vacancy. In the notification of the year 2018, the total seats were around 650. The number of seats vary from around 200 – 700 every time the exam is held.

Eligibility criteria

Only those candidate would be eligible to appear for the lower judiciary examination who fulfill the following criteria:

• Candidate must be an Indian Citizen.
• Candidate must have a Bachelor Degree of Law of a University established by law in Uttar Pradesh or of any other University established in India recognised for this purpose by the Governor of the State of Uttar Pradesh.
• Candidate must be enrolled as an Advocate under the provisions of Advocates Act, 1961 and is entitled to practice in the Courts. (It may also include: a Barrister of England or Northern Ireland or a Member Faculty of Advocates in Scotland)
• Candidate must possess a thorough knowledge of Hindi in Devnagri Script.
• Candidate must be between 22 years and 35 years of age (both included). Age relaxation for SC/ST category is 5 years and for OBC is 3 years.

Mode of application

Though the exam is held offline, the application for the exam is received online. Application for permission to appear in the exam shall be invited by the Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission in the prescribed manner. A candidate interested shall register as a “new user” on the website of Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission i.e. (http://uppsc.up.nic.in/) and submit the application form. Those who have already registered are required to click on “Submit application form” after opening the above link.

Fee Payment can only be made on or after Registration through e-payment methods which includes Net Banking, Debit and Credit card payments. (Rs. 125/- for General Category and OBC, Rs. 65/- for SC/ ST Category and Rs. 25/- for Handicapped).

Centres of Examination

The list of exam centres is released along with the notification of the exam by Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (UPPSC). The prelims and mains exam is generally conducted in approximately 1166 centres in around 19 districts of the State. The candidates can choose the centre according to their preference and the allotment of centres would reflect in the admit cards of the applicants. The 19 districts include:

• Agra
• Varanasi
• Ayodhya
• Azamgarh
• Barabanki
• Bareilly
• Jhansi
• Ghaziabad
• Gorakhpur
• Jaunpur
• Kanpur
• Lucknow
• Mathura
• Meerut
• Mirzapur
• Moradabad
• Prayagraj
• Rae Bareli
• Sitapur

Scheme of the Exam

The Preliminary Exam consists of 2 papers of 2 hours each. They are:

• General Knowledge (200 Marks)
• Law (300 Marks)

Both the papers are held on the same day.

The results of the Preliminary Exam is declared within 20 days approximately and a candidate has around 30 days to prepare for the Mains exam after the Preliminary exam.

For the Mains Exam, there are 5 papers, each for 3 hours. Each paper is of 200 Marks. They are:

• Paper I – General Knowledge
• Paper II – Language
• Paper III – Law 1 – Substantive Law
• Paper IV – Law 2 – Procedure and Evidence
• Paper III – Law 3 – Penal, Revenue & Local Laws

If one qualifies the Preliminary and the Mains Exam, the next stage is Interview which contains 100 Marks.

The Preliminary Exam is an objective exam and the Mains Exam is the subjective one. The cutoffs decide whether a candidate has qualified for the exam or not.

Syllabus

The Syllabus and Pattern for Preliminary and Mains Exam are slightly different. For convenience, I have bifurcated them with the help of below charts.

For Preliminary Exam

For Mains Exam

Weightage of each subject and specific strategy

Preliminary Exam

There are two papers in the Preliminary Exam:

• General Knowledge
• Law

Law consists of 300 Marks and accordingly, it contains more weightage. Most of the questions every year have been asked from:

• Indian Constitution
• Indian Penal Code
• Jurisprudence

This does not mean that other statutes or syllabus is not important. Another part of the syllabus of Preliminary Exam which is important is General Knowledge. It sub parts i.e. Static and current G.K. is very important and time and again, questions have come from these parts.

Mains Exam 

Every paper carries equal marks in the Mains Exam. But the most relevant portions of each paper have been discussed below:

Paper – I: Static General Knowledge, Current National Issues and Indian Economy are the most important part of this paper and most of the questions have been asked from this sphere.

Paper – II: Hindi in Devanagari script is the most important language in the paper as most of the papers in the State of Uttar Pradesh are in Hindi. Focus on Hindi a bit more than you focus on English. Language plays a role in this Paper.

Paper – III: It is also a very important paper but you can prepare it at the end. The Core of this paper is comprised of Law of Contracts, Hindu and Mohammedan Law and Law of Torts.

Paper – IV: This Paper is the most important paper of all. It mainly consists of situation based questions based on practicality. It is considered to be the toughest paper in U.P. Judiciary. The most important part of this paper is Civil Procedure Code, Law of Evidence and Criminal Procedure Code. Basically this paper as a whole is important.

Paper – V: This paper mainly comprises of the Bare Act language and you have to study bare act and learn it by heart if you want to qualify this paper. Important part consists of Indian Penal Code and Rent Laws.

Level of Competition

The level of competition can be estimated by looking into the number of seats in the exam and the number of students opting law in society. The candidates appearing for Judiciary are hundred times more than the vacancies. In Uttar Pradesh, a candidate who comes from a family of Judges gives a try to the Judiciary at least once. The level of competition can be seen when I say that there is 0.005 percent chance of getting through it. Increasing awareness among the masses has become the main reason for increase in candidates appearing for the judicial services.

The number of candidates increases every year but the number of seats vary. If the number of seats increases, the possibility of getting selected is high. But if the number of seats decreases, there is a very less possibility of a candidate being selected.

Ideal time to start preparation

The ideal time to start preparing is the time when you get serious and sincere about qualifying the exam where the success ratio is 1: 200 or a mere 0.005 per cent. The sooner the preparation starts, the better it is. Strategy is the most important part and dividing time for the subjects make the core of your strategy.

Preparation for Judicial services can be started in law school only if the candidate diligently reads all the landmark cases and read the Bare Acts carefully. As the language of the Bare Act is of utmost importance in the exam. One should also cultivate the habit of being rational and reasonable and have independent ideas free from any bias.

This exam needs hard work, will power and dedication. If you prepare with all these three things for a minimum of one year, you will be able to qualify the exam.

How to Prepare?

The best way to prepare for the judicial services is to prepare smartly and with a strategy. The strategy not followed is a strategy wasted. One should prepare those subjects properly which contain more weightage than the others. For Example, Constitutional Law, Civil Procedure Code, Local Laws, etc.

Step by step guide to preparation

The following steps will help you to prepare well for the exam:

• Read the law of the land i.e. the Indian Constitution. Prepare it very carefully and learn it by heart.
• Collect all the Bare Acts and start reading them one by one with the explanations and provisos.
• Cover the lengthy and diverse subjects first, like Civil Procedure Code and Criminal Procedure Code which will consume most of your time.
• Do not forget to revise what you studied.
• Convert one passage from English to Hindi and Hindi to English everyday within the stipulated time.
• Read Newspaper daily and make notes.
• Study Indian Penal Code, Evidence Act and Criminal Procedure Code together.
• Study Local Laws relating to Real Estate together.
• Jurisprudence shall be read as a whole.
• Read and understand law rather learning it.
• Read all the latest amendments and latest important judgements on the subject you are studying.
• Practice answer writing to questions which have been frequently asked in the exam.
• Make 50 Multiple Choice Questions daily on the topics you have studied.
• Attempt situation based questions as they cover most of your exam.
• Solve previous year papers as much as you can as they will give you an idea about how the paper will be. It will also boost up your confidence.
• Create notes for revision and update them regularly.
• Learn 10 new words from Hindi Language in Devanagari everyday.

Mistakes to avoid while preparing

• Avoid wasting time. Always remember “A stitch in Time saves Nine”.
• Avoid Socializing if you get disturbed easily.
• Avoid referring to different materials on one topic.
• Always use authentic source of information.
• Reading Newspaper all day.
• Not loving what you are doing.
• Long discussions with friends.
• Thinking just about the Interview stage.
• Over Confidence.