Judiciary Exam Syllabus 2026 & 2027 — State-Wise Breakdown

How PCS-J Syllabi Are Structured

There is no single "Judiciary syllabus" published anywhere. Each state notifies its own syllabus, and aspirants must read the latest official notification on the State PSC or High Court portal of their target state. That said, the architecture is consistent across India: a Prelims paper testing Bare Acts and General Knowledge, followed by 4-6 Mains papers in substantive and procedural law, plus a Viva-Voce.

This page maps that architecture state by state and identifies the shared substantive spine that lets one well-built preparation stack cover multiple state cycles.

The Common Substantive-Law Spine

Roughly 70 percent of the Mains syllabus is identical across the major recruiting states. Master this spine first, then layer state-specific Local Laws on top.

Subject	Tested in Prelims	Tested in Mains
Code of Civil Procedure, 1908	Yes (heavy)	Yes — Civil Law I
Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (was CrPC)	Yes	Yes — Criminal Law
Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 (was Evidence Act)	Yes (heavy)	Yes — Civil & Criminal Law
Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (was IPC)	Yes	Yes — Criminal Law
Constitution of India	Yes	Yes — usually a standalone paper
Indian Contract Act, 1872	Yes	Yes — Civil Law I
Transfer of Property Act, 1882	Yes	Yes — Civil Law I/II
Specific Relief Act, 1963	Yes	Yes — Civil Law II
Limitation Act, 1963	Yes	Yes — Civil Law II
Hindu Law (Marriage, Succession)	Sometimes	Yes — Personal Laws
Muslim Law (Marriage, Succession, Waqf)	Sometimes	Yes — Personal Laws
Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881	Yes	Yes in select states
Registration Act, 1908 / Indian Stamp Act	Sometimes	Yes in select states

BNS, BNSS & BSA — The 2024 Code Replacement

On 1 July 2024, three foundational statutes were replaced:

• Indian Penal Code, 1860 → Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 — 358 sections, restructured chapters, new offences (organised crime, terrorism), and updated punishments.
• Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 → Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 — 531 sections, expanded use of audio-video for trial and evidence, statutory timelines for charge-sheet and judgment.
• Indian Evidence Act, 1872 → Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 — 170 sections, formal recognition of electronic and digital records as primary evidence.

State PSCs from the 2025 cycle onward are testing the new codes as primary law. The old codes survive only for offences committed before 1 July 2024 and for ongoing matters under transitional provisions. Build your preparation stack on the new codes; treat the old codes as comparative reading only.

Prelims Syllabus — Section by Section

A typical PCS-J Prelims paper has 150-200 MCQs over 2 hours. The four broad heads:

Part A — General Knowledge & Current Affairs (40-60 marks)

• Indian history, polity, economy, geography at the level of a serious newspaper reader.
• Current affairs of the last 12 months — landmark Supreme Court judgments, key High Court verdicts, important amendments, major government schemes.
• Reasoning and basic numerical aptitude in some states (UP includes a small block; Bihar does not).

Part B — Language Paper (20-50 marks)

• Functional English — comprehension, grammar, vocabulary.
• Hindi or the state's regional language — comprehension, grammar, basic translation.
• Karnataka explicitly tests Kannada; Bihar and UP test Hindi; Delhi tests both.

Part C — Substantive & Procedural Law (Bulk of marks)

• Constitution of India — Parts III, IV, V, VI, writs, fundamental duties.
• CPC — jurisdiction, parties, pleadings, orders I to XX, decree and judgment, execution, appeals and revision.
• BNSS — arrest, bail, FIR, charge-sheet, trial procedure, appeals.
• BSA — relevancy, admissions and confessions, expert evidence, electronic records, burden of proof.
• BNS — general principles, offences against the body, property, public order and the State.
• Contract, TPA, Specific Relief, Limitation — selected high-yield sections.

Part D — Local Laws (state-specific, see below)

Mains Syllabus — Paper by Paper

A representative Mains structure (Bihar BJS / UP PCS-J pattern):

Paper	Coverage	Duration / Marks
Paper I — General Knowledge / Essay	Current affairs, history, polity, economy, social issues. One long essay (1,000-1,200 words).	3 hours / 150
Paper II — Language	English to Hindi translation, Hindi to English translation, precis, short essay.	3 hours / 100-150
Paper III — Civil Law I	CPC, Indian Contract Act, Specific Relief, Limitation, Indian Partnership.	3 hours / 150-200
Paper IV — Civil Law II	TPA, Hindu Law, Muslim Law, Registration, Indian Trusts.	3 hours / 150-200
Paper V — Criminal Law	BNS, BNSS, BSA. Application to fact patterns; framing of charges; bail orders.	3 hours / 150-200
Paper VI — Constitution & Local Laws	Constitution of India + state's Local Laws (see below).	3 hours / 100-150

Karnataka uses a slightly leaner 4-paper Mains structure; Delhi DJS adds a separate General Knowledge paper with a heavier essay component. Always validate against the current notification of your target state.

State-Specific Local Laws

State	Local Laws Tested
Bihar (BJS)	Bihar Tenancy Act 1885, Bihar Land Reforms Act 1950, Chota Nagpur Tenancy Act, Bihar Panchayat Raj Act, Bihar Hindu Religious Trusts Act.
UP (PCS-J)	UP Revenue Code 2006, UP Zamindari Abolition & Land Reforms Act 1950, UP Urban Buildings Regulation of Letting Act, UP Panchayat Raj Act.
MP (Civil Judge)	MP Land Revenue Code 1959, MP Accommodation Control Act 1961, MP Panchayat Raj Act, MP Municipal Corporation Act.
Karnataka	Karnataka Land Reforms Act 1961, Karnataka Rent Act 1999, Karnataka Stamp Act, Karnataka Co-operative Societies Act.
Rajasthan (RJS)	Rajasthan Tenancy Act 1955, Rajasthan Rent Control Act, Rajasthan Panchayati Raj Act.
Delhi (DJS)	Delhi Rent Control Act 1958, Delhi Land Reforms Act 1954, Delhi Municipal Corporation Act.

Local Laws routinely decide borderline cases. They are not optional revision — treat them with the same seriousness as CPC and BNSS.

Language and Translation Papers

Every state tests the candidate's ability to function in the language used in its trial courts. The format almost always includes:

• Translation: One passage of legal prose from English to the regional language and one from the regional language to English. Pleadings, judgment extracts and statutory text are common.
• Precis: Compressing a 400-500 word passage to one-third its length.
• Short essay: 300-500 words on a current legal or social topic.
• Grammar / functional usage: Sentence correction, idioms, official letter drafting in some states.

This paper is qualifying in some states (Karnataka's Kannada paper is qualifying) and counted in the final aggregate in others (Bihar, UP). Read the notification carefully — aspirants who treat a counted language paper as qualifying lose final-list ranks.

Viva-Voce Syllabus

There is no published Viva-Voce syllabus. The board — chaired by a sitting or retired High Court Judge — tests four areas:

• Bare-Act application: "If a tenant refuses to vacate, what is your first step under the local Rent Control Act?" The expected answer references the exact provision.
• Recent legal developments: Major Supreme Court and your state's High Court judgments of the last 6-12 months. Constitutional amendments, statutory amendments, important Bills.
• Personality, integrity and judicial temperament: Behavioural questions designed to reveal how you would conduct yourself on the Bench.
• Regional language fluency: Parts of the interview may be conducted in the state language. Confidence and basic legal vocabulary in that language matter.

Frequently Asked Questions