RJS Syllabus and Exam Pattern for Rajasthan Civil Judge

RJS exam pattern at a glance

Prelims questions carry 1 mark each, and recent schemes had no negative marking. Prelims only filters the field, and the score you get there is dropped once mains begins. Ranks are drawn from the mains total and the interview, out of 335.

Prelims: who goes through to mains

To pass prelims in recent cycles, general candidates needed 45 percent, while SC, ST and PwBD applicants needed 40. From the qualifiers, the High Court sends forward a pool about fifteen times the size of each category's vacancies to the written mains.

At mains, recent rules asked general candidates for at least 35 percent in each law paper and 40 percent in aggregate to reach the interview, with lower figures for reserved groups.

Law Paper I: civil law syllabus

• Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 and the Constitution of India
• Indian Contract Act, 1872, Partnership Act, 1932 and Registration Act, 1908
• Specific Relief Act, 1963, Limitation Act, 1963 and Transfer of Property Act, 1882
• Evidence law under the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, read with the older Indian Evidence Act, 1872
• Hindu personal law: Hindu Marriage Act, Hindu Succession Act, Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act
• Muslim law on marriage, divorce, maintenance and succession
• Rajasthan laws: Rent Control Act, Court Fees and Suits Valuation Act, Land Revenue Act
• Interpretation of statutes, and order or judgment writing in civil matters

Law Paper II: criminal law syllabus

• Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, studied alongside the IPC of 1860 that it replaced
• Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, read with the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973
• Evidence law again, old Act and new Adhiniyam, from the criminal trial angle
• The juvenile justice law of 2015 and the Probation of Offenders Act, 1958
• Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, Chapter XVII on cheque dishonour
• Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, POCSO Act, 2012 and the workplace sexual harassment law of 2013
• Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986, Rajasthan Excise Act, 1950 and the Information Technology Act, 2000
• Framing of charge and criminal judgment writing

Prelims draws its 70 law questions from both of these lists, so one round of reading serves two stages.

Language portion: Hindi and English

In prelims

English: modals for permission, obligation and possibility; tenses; voice change; reported speech; articles and determiners; joining clauses through coordination or subordination; and word pairs of similar or opposite meaning.

Hindi: word building through sandhi, samas and affixes; word origin types such as tatsam, tadbhav, deshaj and videshi; noun, pronoun, adjective and verb forms; correcting faulty sentences; muhavare and lokoktiyan; punctuation marks; and the Hindi terms used in offices and courts.

In mains

Each essay paper asks for an essay on topics that may include Rajasthan's culture, legal themes, current social and economic issues and current affairs. Writing a clean, balanced essay in Hindi is a real hurdle for many candidates from outside the state, so practise early.

Interview and Rajasthan knowledge

The 35 mark interview looks at your academic record, personality, general knowledge and legal understanding. It also judges your familiarity with Rajasthani dialects and the social customs of the state, which the rules treat as a requirement of the post.

Eligibility in short

• A professional law degree (LLB) recognised for enrolment as an advocate. Final year students may apply but must hold the degree before the main exam, in recent notices.
• Age from 21 up to 40 years; the notice lists extra years allowed to certain categories.
• Knowledge of Hindi in Devanagari, Rajasthani dialects and the state's social customs.

No years of legal practice are required for the Civil Judge cadre. The age reference date and relaxations appear in each notice, so check the latest one.

Study order that fits the RJS syllabus

1. Bare acts first: CPC, Contract, Evidence and the criminal codes, old and new side by side, using the official bare act text.
2. Rajasthan acts: rent, court fees and land revenue are small but rarely studied in LLB, which makes them scoring.
3. Answer writing: one judgment and one framing of charge exercise each week from the third month.
4. Language: a Hindi grammar topic daily and one essay a fortnight in each language.
5. Prelims revision: a month of objective practice before the test, then straight back to writing for mains.

If you are also weighing prosecution posts, the Rajasthan APO syllabus overlaps heavily with criminal law here. Many judiciary aspirants in the state also keep the RAS syllabus in view as a second option. Other state level services are covered under civil services exams, and the RPSC syllabus page explains the commission run exams of Rajasthan.