The Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) conducts competitive examination for the posts of Civil Judge (Junior Division) and Judicial Magistrate First Class every year (usually). The examination is open to any law graduate (explained here) and is a great opportunity for fresh law graduates to try their luck in securing the coveted post of a trial court judge.
The examination is conducted in three stages- Preliminary, Mains and Personality Test. As per the current structure the Preliminary examination is a mere screening test. The Mains and Personality test on the other hand count towards final selection.
Eligibility
The Eligibility Criteria for this examination has been published on the MPSC website. To summarise, three classes of candidates are eligible viz. fresh law graduates, Advocates, and Ministerial Staff. Fresh law graduates need to graduate with atleast 55% marks in their first attempt.
On the other hand, Advocates require practice of not less than 3 years, while the minesterial staff need to complete 3 years of service to be eligible. The maximum age allowed for above class of candidates is 25, 35, and 45 years respectively. Candidates of Backward class can avail an additional 5 year relaxation in the maximum age criterion.
Scheme of examination
The preliminary exam is an single multiple choice question exam with 100 questions for 100 marks to be solved within 2 hours. The mains examination consists of two descriptive papers - Civil and Criminal. Both of these papers are of 200 marks to be solved in 3 hours each. The syllabus and nature of questions in both these stages is as discussed below
Preliminary Examination
Unlike subordinate judiciary examination of other states in India, the Maharashtra subordinate judiciary examination tests only for your legal aptitude in the preliminary examination. Hence, you do not need to prepare for language grammar and composition. However, you do need a certificate from the District Judge or College Principal stating that you have adequate knowledge of Marathi and can translate to English and vice versa.
In all, there are total 12 subjects/Acts to prepare for prelims. These are
- Constitution of India
- Indian contracts Act
- Sale of Goods Act
- Indian Partnership Act
- Transfer of Property Act
- The Maharashtra Rent Control Act
- Specific Relief Act
- Code of Civil Procedure
- The Limitation Act
- Indian Penal Code
- Indian Evidence Act
- Code of Criminal Procedure
Out of the above list, the MRCA, COI and the Limitation Act are only part of the syllabus for preliminary examination. The distribution of marks for all the above subjects throughout the years is given in the following table. Do note that for the sake of convenience, the questions of SOGA and IPA are counted with the Contracts Act as they are of the same nature.
As the preliminary examination is just a screening test, your aim should be to clear the cutoffs. Any more marks than the cutoffs will give you nothing more than bragging rights. Based on previous results the following plot can be relied upon to determine a “safe score” ahead of the examination based on the number of vacancies advertised.
Note: Above plot is just a attempt to guess the necessary marks required based on advertised posts. Various other factors like, questions getting cancelled or if the questions primarily focus on intricate provisions of the Act, etc. may affect annual cutoffs. Caution advised.
Mains Examination
Preliminary Exam Resources
Mains Examination Resources
The following table consists of all JMFC questions from 2008 to 2020. These questions are categorised as per the marks allotted per question, the subject, as well as the relevant sections. The interactive table can be used to sort and filter as required.
Previous Year Question Papers
Access the following folders for respective years' Preliminary and Mains examination question papers.
That's all folks!