From our research
What this interview looks like
The judicial service interview is a viva voce taken after the mains by a board constituted by the High Court or the State Public Service Commission. The board is usually three to five members: a sitting or retired High Court judge presiding, a district judge or the Registrar General, a law professor or a senior advocate, and often a Commission member or a High Court-nominated expert. The interview lasts fifteen to thirty minutes. It opens from the application form, moves to substantive law in the candidate's weaker areas, puts fact situations that require the CPC, the 2023 criminal codes and the Evidence law to be applied on the spot, and tests judicial temperament through ethics and pressure hypotheticals. Marks vary by state, from 35 in Rajasthan to 200 in Haryana and Punjab, and several states fix a minimum qualifying score in the viva. Boards in UP, MP, Rajasthan and Bihar switch between Hindi and English; Gujarat and Maharashtra boards expect comfort in the regional language. The ExamPilot mock compresses this into an eighteen-minute board with the same four movements.
How it is weighted
Bihar: interview 100 marks on top of the mains, as per the BPSC rules. Haryana and Punjab: viva voce 200 marks against 1000 for the five mains papers, with the minimum qualifying marks in the viva fixed by the respective Judicial Branch rules, as per the latest rules.
Who this is for
Candidates who have cleared the preliminary and the mains of the Bihar Civil Judge examination (BPSC), the Haryana Civil Service Judicial Branch examination or the Punjab Civil Service Judicial Branch examination (both conducted through the Punjab and Haryana High Court). A law degree and enrolment or eligibility for enrolment are required, with the practice requirement after the Supreme Court's May 2025 ruling applied as per each state's latest notification. Punjab expects Punjabi in Gurmukhi; Haryana tests Hindi in Devanagari; Bihar tests Hindi.
The panel focuses on
- Section-level knowledge of civil and criminal law, with the rent and land laws of the candidate's state
- Fact situations on bail, remand, injunctions and limitation, answered as orders with reasons
- Bilingual fluency: Hindi for Bihar and Haryana boards, Punjabi awareness for the Punjab board
- Judicial temperament: independence from the district Bar and local influence, patience, integrity
- Awareness of the Supreme Court's recent decisions on bail, maintenance, electronic evidence and the subordinate judiciary
- Motivation for the Bench and realism about a first posting in a subdivisional town
Step 1
Pick your subject
The expert on the panel probes these areas at the level of this post. Optional here; you can choose during setup.
Step 2
Choose how you want to be interviewed
1:1 interview
One interviewer runs every round and adapts the focus as you go. Lower pressure; ideal for a first attempt.
Justice Devendra Nath Mishra (Retd.)
Chairperson
Panel interview · 3 members
Most realisticEach member leads their own round and hands over to the next. They hear each other, so a weak answer will be revisited.
Justice Devendra Nath Mishra (Retd.)
Chairperson
Dr. Shalini Venkataraman
Subject expert
Shri Arvind Kelkar
External member
What to expect
5 rounds · 18 minutes
A viva-voce board of the kind that interviews civil judge (junior division) candidates after the mains: a sitting or retired High Court judge in the chair, a district judge or law professor as the subject member, and a senior advocate as the Bar member. The board opens from the candidate's application and legal background, tests substantive law in the candidate's weaker areas, puts a courtroom problem that needs the procedure and evidence codes applied on the spot, and then probes judicial temperament through ethics and pressure hypotheticals. Boards in UP, MP, Rajasthan and Bihar routinely switch into Hindi; the mock does the same.
- Round 1
Opening from the application
· 3:00Set a formal but courteous tone as a High Court judge does, open the candidate's background from the application form, and form a first view of composure, honesty and motivation for the Bench.
Justice Devendra Nath Mishra (Retd.)2–3 questionsup to 1 follow-up each - Round 2
Substantive law
· 6:00Test accurate knowledge of the substantive law in the chosen area, the exact provision and its leading authority, and whether the candidate knows the limits of their knowledge.
Dr. Shalini Venkataraman3–4 questionsup to 2 follow-ups each - Round 3
Procedure in the courtroom
· 4:00Put a fact situation that a civil judge or magistrate faces on a working day and see whether the candidate can apply the CPC, the BNSS and the BSA to it: the correct stage, the provision, the burden, the order and the reasons.
Shri Arvind Kelkar1–2 questionsup to 2 follow-ups each - Round 4
Judicial temperament
· 4:00Assess independence, integrity, patience and fairness through hypotheticals a young judge actually faces: pressure from the Bar or a senior, a relative or politician seeking a favour, an unrepresented litigant, a mistake in a signed order, or a violent scene in a crowded court.
Justice Devendra Nath Mishra (Retd.)1–2 questionsup to 2 follow-ups each - Round 5
Closing
· 1:00Close the board formally, without feedback or any hint of the result.
Justice Devendra Nath Mishra (Retd.)1–1 questions
Sample questions
Judicial Services Bihar / Haryana / Punjab Judiciary interview questions
Questions panels commonly ask in the Judicial Services Bihar / Haryana / Punjab Judiciary interview, with what a strong answer covers. Practise them aloud with the AI panel.
- NDPS Act
Police produce an accused arrested with a commercial quantity of heroin at a Punjab border thana and seek remand. What special restrictions on bail apply under the NDPS Act?
What a strong answer covers
Explains that Section 37 of the NDPS Act restricts bail for commercial-quantity offences: the public prosecutor must be heard and the court must have reasonable grounds to believe the accused is not guilty and unlikely to offend on bail, along with checks on mandatory safeguards in search and seizure. Avoid applying ordinary bail principles alone.
- Limitation
A suit is filed two years after the limitation period expired, with an application for condonation of delay under Section 5 of the Limitation Act. What do you do?
What a strong answer covers
Explains that Section 5 does not apply to the institution of suits, only to appeals and applications, so the plaint must be examined under Section 3 and rejected if barred, unless an exclusion or extension provision such as acknowledgement applies. Avoid condoning delay in filing a suit.
- Partition and jurisdiction
हरियाणा के किसी गाँव में दो भाइयों के बीच पुश्तैनी ज़मीन का बँटवारा विवाद है। सिविल जज के रूप में आप सबसे पहले क्या देखेंगे?
What a strong answer covers
Checks the nature of the land and whether revenue courts have exclusive jurisdiction for partition of agricultural holdings under state law, the parties' shares under succession law, existing revenue records and possession, before framing issues. Avoid assuming civil court jurisdiction without checking the state's land laws.
- Family law
A husband files for divorce by mutual consent and both parties ask you to waive the six-month cooling-off period. Can you?
What a strong answer covers
Explains Section 13B of the Hindu Marriage Act and that Amardeep Singh v Harveen Kaur held the waiting period directory, not mandatory, so it can be waived where the court is satisfied of conditions such as genuine settlement and no chance of reconciliation. Avoid saying waiver is never possible.
- Property law
A buyer has lived in a house for years under an unregistered agreement to sell and paid the full price. The seller now sues to evict him. Can the buyer resist, and on what basis?
What a strong answer covers
Discusses Section 53A of the Transfer of Property Act as a defensive shield for a transferee in possession who has performed his part, and the requirements of a written contract and, after the 2001 amendments, registration of the agreement for the protection to apply, while noting it does not confer title. Avoid treating possession alone as ownership.
- Judicial integrity
A local MLA's relative is an accused in a matter before you, and you receive an indirect message through a court employee. What do you do?
What a strong answer covers
Ignores the message in deciding the case, records or reports the approach to the District Judge or the High Court as appropriate, and takes administrative action regarding the employee. Avoid acting on it or keeping silent if the approach is serious.
- Evidence
A dying declaration was recorded by a police officer, not a magistrate. Can the court convict on it alone?
What a strong answer covers
Explains that a dying declaration is relevant under the BSA regardless of who recorded it, and can be the sole basis for conviction if the court is satisfied it is true, voluntary and made in a fit state of mind; recording by a magistrate adds assurance but is not mandatory. Avoid saying corroboration is always required.
- Local awareness
Punjab and Haryana boards sometimes ask about local conditions. What is one legal problem in rural Punjab or Haryana that reaches the district courts frequently?
What a strong answer covers
Identifies an issue such as land partition, NDPS cases, cheque bounce, matrimonial disputes or motor accident claims, explains why it is common and how a judge can deal with it efficiently. Avoid stereotypes or unsupported statistics.
- Criminal procedure
What is the difference between a cognizable and a non-cognizable offence, and what must the police do when they receive information about a non-cognizable one?
What a strong answer covers
Cognizable offences allow arrest without warrant and investigation without magistrate's order; for non-cognizable offences, police enter the information and refer the informant to the magistrate, and cannot investigate without the magistrate's order under the BNSS. Avoid confusing cognizable with non-bailable.
Reading is not rehearsing. Answer these out loud to an AI Judicial Services Bihar / Haryana / Punjab Judiciary panel that follows up like the real one.
Practise these questionsMeet the panel
Your AI interviewers
Distinct personas, voices and questioning styles, briefed on this post.
Justice Devendra Nath Mishra (Retd.)
ChairChairperson
Former Judge, High Court; chairs judicial service selection boards
Formal, patient, unhurried, impossible to flatter.
Male voice · 3 languages
Dr. Shalini Venkataraman
Subject expert
District and Sessions Judge; formerly Professor of Law, National Law University
Precise, academic, quietly demanding.
Female voice · 3 languages
Shri Arvind Kelkar
External member
Senior Advocate; former Chairman, State Bar Council
Brisk, practical, sharp but fair.
Male voice · 4 languages
Languages
Answer in the language you think in
The panel asks in your chosen language. Switch mid-answer if you like.
- English
- हिंदीHindi
- Hinglish (Hindi + English)Hinglish
How scoring works
A report you can act on
Every round is scored on the rubric
Each interviewer scores only the criteria their round covers. Weights add up to your overall score out of 100.
Only what you actually said counts
Feedback quotes your own answers. Rounds you skip show as “Not assessed” rather than a zero.
Communication is always measured
Fluency, clarity, confidence and structure are tracked across the whole interview, in any language.
Pass mark, then a plan
You see the pass mark for this interview, your gaps, and the courses that close them fastest.
Scored on
- Legal knowledge35%
Accurate statement of the law: correct provisions of the BNS, BNSS, BSA, CPC, Contract, Transfer of Property, Specific Relief, Limitation, family and local laws, with the leading Supreme Court authority where one exists. Knows the 2023 criminal codes and their old equivalents. Does not invent sections or misstate a ratio.
- Application & reasoning25%
Takes a fact situation and reasons like a judge: identifies the issue, the governing provision, the burden, the procedure and the order to be passed, in that sequence. Distinguishes what the court can and cannot do at that stage. Handles a changed fact without collapsing.
- Judicial temperament20%
Independence, patience, courtesy and integrity: refuses improper influence, admits not knowing, stays even under a sharp Bar member, is fair to the unrepresented litigant, keeps the Restatement of Values of Judicial Life in mind and does not posture or moralise.
- Communication20%
Short, precise, audible answers in English or Hindi as the board uses; a judgment-like structure to oral reasoning; listens to the full question; does not ramble, bluff or argue with the board.
Pass mark 55 / 100 · Judicial service interview — High Court selection board
Keep exploring
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- Judicial Services RJS interviewLaw graduates, 21–40 years
- Judicial Services MP Civil Judge interviewLaw graduates, 21–35 years
- Judicial Services Delhi DJS interviewLaw graduates, up to 32 years (general)
- Judicial Services Gujarat / Maharashtra Judiciary interviewLaw graduates, 21–35 years (varies by state)