Swati Vyas on cracking Judicial Services Examination in first attempt

1. Please tell us something about yourself and about your journey so far?

Well!! I passed my senior secondary examination from commerce stream and thereafter, as I wanted to enter into legal profession, I got admission in five-year law course at university of Rajasthan in 2008. I completed my law graduation in 2013. Fortunately, just after my graduation, I got a chance to appear in judicial services examination in 2014. I was preparing for judicial services for last 3 years which helped me in succeeding in the exam in my first attempt. Also, meticulous studies during bachelor of laws helped me a lot in preparing for the examination.

2. Your entire family is into Judicial services. How far do you think your family background has helped you in achieving your goals? Was choosing Judicial Services more like a pressure or a choice?

Yes, my father, my brother and my sister-in-law are into judicial services. It provided me a conducive environment for the competition. Since Judicial Services Examination is a tough competition as thousands of aspirants are competing for this, I think my family background helped me on psychological side. I got proper guidance from my family itself. My parents told me that doing LL. B seriously will pave the path for successful legal and judicial career.  There was no such pressure to join judicial services. It was my choice. I would say that I was the first passenger of this first bus. The legal profession and litigation side always tempted me. And above all, being a judicial officer is the best thing a law scholar can achieve.

3. How did you prepare for the competition?

As I have said earlier that your thorough study during LL.B. course prepares firm pillars. Since I joined my LL.B. in 2008, I was inclined to study each subject thoroughly. Understanding nitty gritty of the laws needs time which I had a lot during five years of law course. It helped me in scoring in law subjects i.e. civil law and criminal law. I would say that scoring well in law subject can make one able to face interview but to get a merit in the list, one must be good in language papers. As 33 percent of total marks in the examination is allocated for language papers, I tried to devote one third of my study hours for the language papers i.e Hindi and English. Being an English medium student, it was hard for me to do well in Hindi language papers, that’s why I started studying Hindi grammar from basic level. It took time but this paper helped me in standing in merit list as I got more marks in Hindi in comparison to English.

4. It is said that clearing the Rajasthan Judicial Services Competition has more to do with the cramming abilities than understanding of law. What is your say on it?

Nowadays, it is not so, as the paper pattern has been changed. Now it is a three level examination i.e. pre, main and then interview. So to get through in all the three levels, you need to be abreast with the laws and for that the aspirants need to study not only the bare acts of the legislations but also the classic commentaries on each subject. Presently there are more than 40 laws in the syllabus for the Rajasthan Judicial Service Examination so to get a seat in the merit list, one has to prepare differently in the examination. Mere cramming the language of bare acts does not help in the interview.

5. From past few years, Judiciary has come into bad light. Do you think it is easy for a common man to fight his case given the increasing corruption?

To my view, in present times, judiciary is seen as a pious institution. And it is due to the Judges working in this country. A common man has hope to get justice from the judiciary. Respecting the doctrine of separation of the powers, the Judges of our country are exercising their powers to serve justice to the masses of our country. Free legal aid is assisting a common man to fight his case. Judicial officers are also participating in legal literacy missions. I have observed during my training for judicial services that time has gone when a judicial officer was working as an umpire of a cricket match. Now, a judicial officer is functioning as a referee of a football match. He runs along with the participants of the case. He is taking active part in mediation and conciliation. He has a close watch on the case proceedings. He is disposing of the cases not only qualitatively but also quantitatively. So the scene has changed now. Any vigilant litigant can have access to justice in this new era of Judiciary.

6. Some tips for the Rajasthan Judicial Services aspirants!

For the aspirants of the forthcoming R.J.S. examination, I would advise them to go through each subjects from the syllabus. No law listed in the syllabus is redundant from the exam point of view. To secure a decent stand in the merit list, one has to give due weightage to each subject. Most importantly, cramming verbatim the language of the bare act is not the panacea for succeeding in this examination. In the new pattern of the R.J.S. examination, many case law based questions and the questions based on practical problems are being asked. As each mark is very significant from the examination point of view, so every aspirant must study thoroughly all the leading and landmark judgments. Discussing law and its recent developments with the practicing Lawyers and Judges will also help a lot. Apart from that, every student, who is aspiring for Judicial Services, must read biographies of the Hon’ble Judges and great lawyers. It will also help them in setting up a significant mind set for competing for the examination.