Delhi Judicial Services

The Delhi Judicial Services (DJS) examination is the competitive exam through which the High Court of Delhi recruits entry-level judicial officers for the district courts of Delhi. Selected candidates join the Delhi Judicial Service, where they hear civil and criminal matters as Civil Judges and Magistrates. The exam runs in three stages: a preliminary test, a written mains examination and a viva-voce.

This guide gives law graduates one place to see how the exam works, what the last advertised cycle looked like, and where the rules stand today. Information from the official 2023 notice is labelled as year-specific, and rules that stay the same from cycle to cycle are explained separately so you can plan even before the next notice arrives.

Table of Contents

• Delhi Judicial Services at a glance

• Recruitment status as of 27 October 2026

• Key dates of the last advertised cycle (DJS 2023)

• Vacancy details

• Eligibility summary

• Application fee and how to apply

• Exam pattern

• Syllabus summary

• Selection process and qualifying rules

• Salary and career path

• How to prepare for the Delhi Judicial Services exam

• Cut-off reference

• Official sources to track

Delhi Judicial Services

The DJS exam is not held on a fixed yearly calendar. The Rules say the High Court conducts it preferably once a year, subject to vacancies, so the timing of each notice depends on how many posts are available.

Recruitment status as of 27 October 2026

At the time of writing, the Delhi High Court recruitment and job-opening listings we reviewed show no new Delhi Judicial Service (DJS) notice for 2025 or 2026. The 2026 notices on the site relate to the Delhi Higher Judicial Service (DHJS), which recruits district judges from experienced advocates. That is a separate exam with a different age and experience requirement, so do not mix the two.

The last DJS cycle that we could verify from official documents is the Delhi Judicial Service Examination 2023. Its final order of merit was published on 4 March 2025. Until a new notice appears, the 2023 cycle is the best guide to dates, vacancies, fees and the practical flow of the exam. Older pages may still show expected 2025 or 2026 dates and vacancy numbers that were never confirmed, so rely on the official notice instead.

One development to follow closely is the Supreme Court's direction on bar practice for Civil Judge recruitment, explained in the eligibility section below.

Key dates of the last advertised cycle (DJS 2023)

These dates belong to the 2023 cycle only. Tentative dates in any future cycle can change, so track the official recruitment page on the Delhi High Court website and your registered email. The 2023 cycle itself saw a postponed prelims, an extended deadline and revised results, which shows why you should keep checking notices rather than relying on a single date.

Vacancy details

The 2023 notice advertised 53 posts, made up of 44 existing and 9 anticipated vacancies. The anticipated vacancies were valid until 31 October 2024, and the notice said that totals and category splits could change.

Nine of these posts were earmarked for candidates with benchmark disabilities, in three groups of three. The 2023 vacancy table lists General, SC and ST categories, and does not show a separate OBC category. These numbers are for 2023 only, and the next notice will carry its own count.

Eligibility summary

Qualification and nationality

Under the Delhi Judicial Service Rules, a candidate must be a citizen of India and a practising advocate in India, or be qualified to be admitted as an advocate under the Advocates Act, 1961. In practice this means a law degree from a recognised university.

Age limit

The upper age limit is 32 years on 1 January of the year in which applications are invited. For the 2023 cycle the reference date was 1 January 2023. Relaxation was five years for SC and ST candidates, up to ten years for persons with benchmark disabilities, and up to fifteen years for SC and ST candidates with disabilities. Eligible ex-servicemen and commissioned officers received up to five years, subject to the conditions in the notice.

Bar practice rule

The 2023 notice did not state a minimum number of years of practice. Since then, the Supreme Court has changed the national position for Civil Judge recruitment, first in its judgment of 20 May 2025 and then in a modification reported on 21 August 2026. The details, and what they could mean for the next Delhi notice, are in our Delhi Judicial Services eligibility guide.

Application fee and how to apply

The fee was non-refundable and payable online by debit card, credit card, internet banking or UPI. Fees can change in a new notice, and some older pages still quote a lower fee from earlier years.

Applications are online only. The usual steps are:

1. Find the notice: Open the recruitment or job-openings section of the official Delhi High Court website and read the advertisement and instructions fully.

2. Register: Create your profile on the online application link with a valid email address and mobile number.

3. Fill the form: Enter personal, category and qualification details exactly as in your certificates.

4. Upload documents: Follow the size and format limits given in the instructions.

5. Pay the fee: Use any of the accepted online payment modes before the deadline.

6. Submit and save: Keep a printout for your records. The notice says not to send the printout to the High Court.

Eligibility is provisional at every stage, and the High Court can cancel candidature if a condition is found unmet, even after an exam. Check your category, age calculation and uploads carefully before you submit.

Exam pattern

The pattern below comes from the Delhi Judicial Service Rules and the 2023 question booklet. Our detailed Delhi Judicial Services exam pattern page adds the qualifying rules and a worked merit example.

The mains papers are General Legal Knowledge and Language (250 marks), Civil Law I (200), Civil Law II (200) and Criminal Law (200). Prelims carries 25% negative marking, so each wrong answer costs a quarter of the marks for a question.

What this means for you: because prelims marks are not added to your final score, prelims is a gate, not a place to score high. Accuracy matters more than attempting everything. Mains and viva decide your rank, and written answers are weighted heavily, so start answer-writing practice early.

Syllabus summary

The Rules list Acts rather than detailed topic-wise outlines. The table shows how the subjects are grouped. Our Delhi Judicial Services syllabus guide breaks each one down.

The Rules copy we reviewed names the older criminal statutes. The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam came into force on 1 July 2024, so prepare both sets until the next notice says how they will be examined.

Selection process and qualifying rules

1. Prelims: Candidates need 60% (General) or 55% (SC, ST and eligible PwD) to qualify. The number called for mains is capped at ten times the vacancies in each category, plus ties.

2. Mains: General candidates need 40% in each paper and 50% in aggregate. Reserved categories need 35% in each paper and 45% in aggregate. Up to three times the vacancies are called for the viva.

3. Viva-voce: The minimum is 50% for General and 45% for reserved categories.

4. Merit list: Mains and viva marks are added, and the order of merit is prepared out of 1,000.

After selection, the High Court also looks at medical fitness and verification of documents before appointment.

Salary and career path

The 2023 notice gave the pay scale as Rs. 77,840 to Rs. 1,36,520. Allowances, housing and other benefits are decided under the rules in force at the time of appointment, so no in-hand figure is given here. Some pages quote other scales, which belong to different ranks or cycles.

Entry-level officers progress through the service by seniority and merit. The Delhi Higher Judicial Service, which has its own eligibility and experience rules, is the next tier of the district judiciary. A DJS officer typically begins by handling civil suits, criminal trials and miscellaneous applications in Delhi's district courts.

How to prepare for the Delhi Judicial Services exam

A realistic plan for most candidates runs in four phases:

• Foundation (first 8 to 10 weeks): Read bare acts for CPC, CrPC, IPC, Evidence, Contract and Limitation, and make short notes with section numbers.

• Prelims focus: Solve topic-wise MCQs, then previous papers, noting which Acts the questions come from.

• Mains conversion: Write timed answers every week for the civil and criminal papers, and practise essay, precis and translation in the language paper.

• Viva preparation: Revise landmark judgments, keep up with current legal affairs and practise speaking calmly about your own opinion on legal issues.

For timed practice in the current prelims pattern, you can attempt online tests on Testkart and use the section-wise analysis to plan revision. Pair them with the official previous year papers on the High Court website to see the real difficulty level.

Cut-off reference

The High Court prescribes minimum qualifying percentages for every stage, and it does not publish a fixed category-wise cut-off like some other exams. In 2023, the prelims maximum was scaled to 195 marks after three questions were deleted on court orders, and the minimum qualifying marks were revised to 117 for General and 107.25 for reserved categories. Cut-offs change every year with difficulty, vacancies and the number of applicants, so treat these as benchmarks and aim for a clear margin. See the Delhi Judicial Services cut-off page for the full breakdown.

Official sources to track

Always confirm dates, fees and rules on the official pages:

• Main website: https://delhihighcourt.nic.in/

• Recruitment notices: https://delhihighcourt.nic.in/web/recruitment

• DJS past question papers: https://delhihighcourt.nic.in/web/delhi-judicial-service