Haryana Judicial Services Examination 2021, Prelims Exam’s Analysis: Difficulty Level, Pattern Deep-Dive, and Answer Key

The Haryana Judicial Services Examination was finally conducted on 13th November 2021 from 11:00 A.M to 1:00 PM. 

In this article, we will do a section-wise detailed analysis of the prelims paper.

We will also go through the important topic of this year’s prelims exam and the topics asked from a specific subject.

This will help future Haryana Judicial Aspirants understand the pattern of the examination.

The exam consists of 125 questions and each question is of 4 marks.

For every incorrect answer 0.80 marks are deducted. 

If we look at the stats below, we would see that most of the exam was covered by law subjects. So, if the students who attempted the examination prepared the legal section well, they need not worry about the cutoff.

Questions asked from General Knowledge and Current affairs were fairly easy.

Candidates who were aware of the legal and non-legal developments in India and internationally may have found the questions easy to attempt.   

See the graph below to see which section holds the higher weightage:

Difficulty Level of HJS Examination 2021: An Analysis

The exam was of easy to moderate level. Questions were mostly section-centric.

The majority of questions were asked from Cr.P.C, Family Law specifically Hindu Law, CPC, and Evidence. Questions were also based on local laws which many aspirants neglect during preparations.

Other than that, a few questions were also asked from the Registration Act, Limitation, Sale of Goods, and Specific Relief Act. 

Questions were also section-centric for every aspirant’s favorite subject, IPC. Direct questions on Voyeurism, Section 82, and section 463 of the Indian Penal Code were asked in the exam.

It is safe to say that any aspirant who studied from the primary sources, i.e., Bare Acts and standard books, and did multiple revisions, would pass the prelims given the vicissitudes of competitive exams.

Subject Wise Detailed Analysis of HJS 2021

One can see from the above chart that Family Law, Cr. P.C, Indian Penal Code, Evidence Act, and CPC must be prepared wisely and revised endlessly. Excellent knowledge of these major subjects is an essential requirement to clear any Judicial Exam. 

The majority of questions were asked from Family Law and Cr.P.C. It is worth mentioning that Family Law always plays a vital role from the Haryana Judicial Exams.

Questions from other minor Acts such as Sale and Good, Specific Relief, Registration, Limitation, and Partnership were less in number. However, they are extremely important for qualifying for the exam. Remember dear aspirants, many candidates fail to clear the prelims with a 1 or 2 marks margin!

Important Topic Wise Detailed Analysis of HJS 2021

1. General Knowledge

Questions on General Knowledge and Current Affairs were based on ex-gratia compensation by Central Govt. for families that succumbed to Covid-19, Pegasus, National Defence Academy Examination, Ecology, Tokyo Olympics, Haryana Govt. Schemes, Bitcoins, etc.

All these topics are major events that happened in 2021.

2. Family Law

From Muslim,Personal Law question was based on Punishment for irrevocable divorce, Iddat period, and Wakf. 

Most questions were based on Hindu Customary Law. Topics such as but not limited to Restitution of Conjugal Rights, Desertion, Hindu Adoption Act, Alienation by Karta, Hindu Succession Act were asked.

3. Criminal Procedure Code, 1973

Questions from Topics such as Cognizance of an offense, Plea Bargaining, Section 340 of the Code, Arrest Procedure, Section 27, Section 161, and Section 166A of Cr.P.C.

Like we mentioned before, this year the questions were section-centric. Anyone with a good grip of the language of the Bare Act may have found this easy to attempt.

4. Indian Penal Code, 1860

For IPC, there was a blend of situation-based questions and direct section ones.

2-3 Questions were based on a situation and the candidate needed to find the offense committed. Direct questions were based on abduction, Voyeurism, General Exceptions Forgery, Criminal Intimidation, etc. 

5. Evidence Act, 1872

The burden of Proof, Definitions, Admission, Hearsay Evidence, Power of a Judge, Confidential Communication, Dying Declaration, Section 14, and other such topics were asked in the prelims examination. 

It is worth mentioning again that questions based on the Indian Penal Code and Evidence Act were situation-based to test the candidate’s clarity of the law.

 6. Civil Procedure Code, 1908

A total of 16 questions were asked from CPC. The topic that came in the exam was Decree, Section 10, Section 13, Amendment, Attachment of property. A situation-based question was also asked from Order VII Rule 11. 

Apart from that Doctrine of res-judicata, order of injunction and Appeal questions were also present.

7. Constitution

Indian Constitution is the primary document that is the basis for all laws. From the Indian Constitution questions were based on Uniform Civil Code, Features of the Indian Constitution, Article 360, Directive Principles of State Policy, Secularism and Part V- Union, Judicial Review, 8th Schedule of Indian Constitution, and Supreme Court.

8. Miscellaneous Topics

Other topics from different legal subjects included frustration of contract, section 27 of Contract Act, acceptance of offer were asked from Indian Contract Act. 

Direct section centric questions from Limitation, Registration Act, and Specific Relief Act were also asked.

Local Laws questions were based on the Haryana Urban (Control of Rent and Eviction Act), 1973, and Punjab Court Act, 1918.

Answer Key

Answer key will be released in the upcoming weeks. You can check the same here.

Conclusion

After analyzing the exam paper, we can safely say that the key to passing the preliminary stage is to have a stronghold of the language of the Bare Act and knowledge of Current Affairs.