Judiciary / PCS-J Preparation

1 Syllabus / exam pattern

• Typical shape: Preliminary (objective law + GK as notified), Mains (written law papers + language), Interview — confirm on the state’s public service commission / High Court notice.
• Core law heads usually include CPC, CrPC / BNSS, Evidence / BSA, Constitution, Contract, specific state laws and judgment writing as notified.
• KN’s judiciary syllabus article is the on-site overview of pattern and focus areas.

2 Previous year questions (PYQs)

The PYQ archive’s judiciary page is a hub only — no invented state papers. Themes to practise from official state PDFs you download yourself:

• Prelims: bare-act line questions and landmark holdings.
• Mains: issue–rule–application–conclusion on a short fact pattern.
• Judgment writing and translation where the state asks for them.

Papers:

• Judiciary PYQ hub (links only)
• Explained UG archive (not a PCS-J paper)

3 Resources

• Judiciary syllabus and exam pattern.
• Judiciary / PCS-J course.
• State-wise judiciary cut-offs.

4 Strategy

• Pick one state notification and map every topic to a bare act + one commentary.
• Daily: 20 Prelims MCQs + one Mains issue.
• Keep a judgment-writing notebook if that state Mains includes it.

5 Common mistakes

• Preparing “all India judiciary” from CLAT Legal Reasoning alone.
• Ignoring the state’s local laws and language paper.
• Collecting PDFs of other states without finishing your target syllabus.

6 Worked approach

Worked Mains framework: “Discuss the territorial jurisdiction of a civil court under the CPC with reference to a suit for land.”