Maharashtra Judicial Services

Maharashtra Judicial Services is the route into the state's subordinate judiciary. The Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) recruits Civil Judge (Junior Division) and Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) officers for the Law and Judiciary Department of the Government of Maharashtra. It is a three-stage process: a preliminary screening test, a descriptive main examination and an interview.

The current cycle is Advertisement No. 013/2026, which carries 286 provisional vacancies. Its timeline has changed since the first notice, so this page separates what stays the same every year (stages, subjects, marking) from what belongs only to this cycle (dates, vacancies, eligibility rulings). Use the pattern, syllabus, eligibility and cut-off pages linked below for the full detail on each topic.

Table of Contents

• Maharashtra Judicial Services

• Latest Status of the 2026 Recruitment Cycle

• Vacancy Details

• Eligibility Summary

• Application Fee and How to Apply

• Admit Card and Exam-Day Basics

• Selection Process and Exam Pattern

• Syllabus Summary

• Salary and Service Conditions

• How to Prepare for the Maharashtra Civil Judge Exam

• Cut-Off and Result Benchmarks

Maharashtra Judicial Services

Official website: https://mpsc.gov.in/

Application portal: https://mpsconline.gov.in/

Latest Status of the 2026 Recruitment Cycle

What has happened so far

The advertisement was published on 30 April 2026 and the online window opened on 1 May 2026. Applications were first scheduled to close on 21 May 2026, with an offline challan option for fee payment that ran a few days longer. The preliminary examination was fixed for Sunday, 2 August 2026.

That date did not hold. Following Supreme Court directions on the practice requirement for Civil Judge recruitment, the application window was reported to have reopened from 8 July 2026 until further orders, and the August preliminary examination was postponed. On 21 August 2026 the Supreme Court modified its 2025 ruling on the three-year practice rule, which directly affects who can apply. The eligibility page explains this in full.

What is still awaited

As of 27 October 2026, a revised preliminary examination date, the closing date of the reopened window and the mains schedule have not been confirmed in the sources we could verify. The table below keeps the original and reported dates together so you can see where each stands.

Tentative dates come from the notification schedule and from news reports, and they can change. Track the advertisement and notice sections of the official MPSC website and your registered email before acting on any date.

Vacancy Details

The advertisement carries 286 vacancies for Civil Judge (Junior Division) and JMFC posts. MPSC describes the number as provisional, so a corrigendum can raise or lower it. The category-wise and court-wise split has not been reported in the sources we checked, so read the vacancy table in the official advertisement before estimating your chances.

Reservation follows Maharashtra government rules. Reservation benefits are available only to Maharashtra residents, and candidates from other states are treated as unreserved. Earlier cycles reported by third-party sites were considerably smaller than this one, so do not assume the vacancy count will stay this high in every year.

Eligibility Summary

Qualification and practice

Every candidate needs a degree in Law. The advertisement then sets a second condition by route: advocates, Public Prosecutors and Government Advocates need three years of practice or service, and court or law department staff need three years of service after the law degree. The Supreme Court's order of 21 August 2026 relaxes the practice condition for recruitment notified up to 31 March 2027, so fresh law graduates are expected to be able to apply in this cycle. Check the revised notice for how MPSC applies it.

Age limit

Age is counted as on 30 April 2026. The limits in the advertisement depend on the route.

Marathi and other conditions

You must be able to speak, read and write Marathi and translate between Marathi and English. Proof is asked for at a later stage.

Application Fee and How to Apply

The fee reported in the advertisement is Rs. 394 for unreserved, EWS and orphan candidates and Rs. 294 for backward class and PwD candidates, plus bank charges. It is non-refundable. A few websites quote Rs. 398 and Rs. 298, so confirm the amount on the portal when you pay.

1. Register: Create or update your profile on the MPSC online portal.

2. Open the advertisement: Select the Civil Judge (Junior Division) and JMFC recruitment from the list of open advertisements.

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

4. Upload documents: Documents are uploaded as PDF files, reported at 40 KB to 400 KB each.

5. Choose a centre and pay: Pick your examination centre, pay online or by challan, and save the confirmation.

Keep your law degree, proof of age, Bar Council enrolment or service certificate, caste and non-creamy layer certificates (if applicable) and Marathi proficiency proof ready before you start.

Admit Card and Exam-Day Basics

The admit card is issued through your profile on the MPSC online portal, reported to be about a week before the examination. Because the revised date is not yet announced, keep your login details and registered mobile number and email active.

• Carry the right documents: Bring the printed admit card and an original photo ID.

• Leave devices outside: Electronic devices are not allowed in the examination hall.

• Check the centre early: The preliminary examination was planned at four centres, namely Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Kolhapur, Navi Mumbai and Nagpur. Your centre choice is made while applying.

Selection Process and Exam Pattern

The selection has three stages. Only the main examination and the interview count towards final merit.

Candidates are shortlisted for the main examination at roughly ten times the number of posts and for the interview at roughly three times the number of posts. To qualify, you need at least 50 marks in each main paper (45 for backward class and PwD candidates) and 40 percent in the interview (35 percent for PwD candidates).

The preliminary examination carries negative marking of one-fourth of a mark per wrong answer. The main papers are written, so the real challenge is clear and accurate drafting under time pressure.

Syllabus Summary

MPSC lists subjects rather than a topic-wise syllabus, so the table below groups the subjects by what they test.

The new criminal codes (BNS, BNSS and BSA) have replaced the older Acts, but the advertisement still names both sets, so study them side by side.

Salary and Service Conditions

Civil Judge (Junior Division) posts are paid on the judicial pay matrix recommended by the Second National Judicial Pay Commission. Sources report a starting basic pay of about Rs. 77,000 per month (Level J-1), with allowances on top. Two websites differ by Rs. 200 on the exact figure, and older pages still show a much lower pay band, so rely on the advertisement and the current government pay rules.

Other conditions reported for this cycle include a three-year probation period and a service bond. One source also reports a two-year bar on practising in the courts where an officer served, after leaving service. Read the bond and conduct clauses in the notice before you apply.

How to Prepare for the Maharashtra Civil Judge Exam

Preparation works best in layers. Start with bare Acts and standard commentaries, then move to case-law and finally to timed practice.

• Master the procedural codes first: CPC, CrPC/BNSS and the Evidence Act/BSA appear in prelims and in both main papers, so every hour spent here pays off twice.

• Read bare Acts line by line: Prelims questions often test exact wording, definitions and time limits.

• Do not skip state law: The Maharashtra Rent Control Act, 1999 is a recurring topic that students from other states often miss.

• Practise drafting early: For the main papers, write answers with issue, provision and conclusion, and take at least one essay a week.

• Revise Marathi legal terms: Translation ability is a requirement, so keep a running glossary.

Stage-wise focus

Preliminary: Speed with accuracy matters, because one-fourth negative marking punishes blind guessing. Build a habit of answering only what you can narrow down to two options.

Main: The two papers are written for a judge's eye. Learn the key sections by number, quote them correctly, and explain how they apply to a short fact situation. Marks are lost more often for unstructured answers than for missing knowledge.

Interview: Expect questions on law, procedure, current legal developments and your motivation for the judiciary. Practise stating a legal position in two or three clear sentences.

For timed practice, you can attempt Maharashtra Judicial Services mock tests on Testkart and use the section-wise analysis to see which Acts cost you marks. Pair them with previous year papers from the official site to understand the question style.

Cut-Off and Result Benchmarks

MPSC does not release a fixed pass mark for the preliminary examination. It publishes the number of candidates shortlisted and the lowest qualifying marks in the result. Figures quoted on third-party sites for earlier years vary from one source to another, so treat them as direction only and check MPSC result notices for exact numbers.

The safe approach is to aim well above any past benchmark in mock tests and stay consistent in accuracy.