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
Viva voce carries 150 marks against 850 for the mains; candidates must secure the minimum qualifying marks in the viva fixed by the Delhi Judicial Service Rules to be placed in the merit list, as per the latest rules.
Who this is for
Candidates who have cleared the Delhi High Court's DJS preliminary and the four-paper mains (General Legal Knowledge and Language, Civil Law I, Civil Law II, Criminal Law). A law degree and enrolment or eligibility for enrolment as an advocate are required; the practice requirement after the Supreme Court's May 2025 ruling applies as per the latest DJS notification.
The panel focuses on
- Fine-grained knowledge of the CPC, the BNSS and the BSA, which the Delhi High Court board tests through hypotheticals rather than definitions
- Delhi Rent Control Act and the civil judge's pecuniary jurisdiction in Delhi
- Metropolitan magistrate work: remand, bail, Section 138 NI Act and the Delhi commercial docket
- Recent Supreme Court and Delhi High Court judgments on bail, electronic evidence, maintenance and arbitration
- Judicial temperament and courtesy under a sharp, fast-moving board
- Clear, concise English and the ability to state an order with reasons in two sentences
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 Delhi DJS interview questions
Questions panels commonly ask in the Judicial Services Delhi DJS interview, with what a strong answer covers. Practise them aloud with the AI panel.
- Arbitration
A suit for recovery is filed, and the defendant applies saying the contract has an arbitration clause. As civil judge, how do you deal with the application?
What a strong answer covers
Applies Section 8 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act: if the application is made not later than the first statement on the substance of the dispute, with the original agreement or a certified copy, the court refers the parties to arbitration unless it finds prima facie no valid agreement exists. Avoid deciding the merits of the dispute yourself.
- Delhi rent law
A landlord in Delhi seeks eviction of a tenant on the ground that he needs the premises for his own family. What must the court examine?
What a strong answer covers
Examines whether the requirement is bona fide, whether the landlord or family has other reasonably suitable accommodation, and the ownership and landlord-tenant relationship, following the summary procedure the Delhi Rent Control Act provides for such petitions. Avoid treating the landlord's wish alone as proof of need.
- Default bail
As a Metropolitan Magistrate, the investigating officer has not filed the charge-sheet within the statutory period and the accused applies for bail. What is your duty?
What a strong answer covers
Recognises the indefeasible right to default bail under Section 187 of the BNSS, corresponding to Section 167(2) of the CrPC, once the period expires and the accused applies and is prepared to furnish bail, and grants it before the charge-sheet is filed. Avoid delaying the application to let police file the charge-sheet.
- FIR registration
A complainant says the police refused to register an FIR for a cognizable offence. What remedies exist, and what did Lalita Kumari hold?
What a strong answer covers
Lalita Kumari held that registration of an FIR is mandatory when information discloses a cognizable offence, with a limited preliminary inquiry in specified categories; remedies include approaching senior police officers and the magistrate, now under Section 173 and Section 175(3) of the BNSS. Avoid saying police have full discretion to refuse.
- NI Act
In a Section 138 NI Act complaint, which court in Delhi has territorial jurisdiction when the cheque was issued in Mumbai but deposited in a Delhi bank account of the payee?
What a strong answer covers
Explains that after the 2015 amendment, Section 142(2) gives jurisdiction to the court where the payee's bank branch in which the account is maintained is situated, so the Delhi court can try it; mentions this followed the Dashrath Rathod decision. Avoid citing the pre-amendment position as current.
- Order writing
State, in two sentences, an order on an application for amendment of a written statement filed after the trial has commenced.
What a strong answer covers
Refers to the proviso to Order 6 Rule 17 of the CPC, that amendment after commencement of trial is allowed only if the party shows that despite due diligence it could not have raised the matter earlier, and gives a reasoned allow or reject. Avoid lengthy recitals or ignoring the due-diligence test.
- Custodial safeguards
What safeguards did the Supreme Court lay down in D.K. Basu, and how do you, as a magistrate, check compliance when an accused is produced?
What a strong answer covers
Safeguards include identification of arresting officers, an arrest memo attested by a witness, informing a relative or friend, medical examination and the right to meet a lawyer; the magistrate checks the memo, medical report and asks the accused about treatment in custody. Avoid accepting police papers without asking the accused.
- Judicial temperament
In a busy Delhi court, a senior counsel asks for an urgent hearing out of turn while a litigant who travelled from Haryana has been waiting since morning. How do you decide?
What a strong answer covers
Decides on genuine urgency, not seniority of counsel, explains the reason in court, and respects the waiting litigant's time by taking up matters in order unless urgency is shown. Avoid favouring senior counsel by default.
- Civil procedure
What is the practical difference between a decree and an order under the CPC, and why does it matter for appeal?
What a strong answer covers
A decree conclusively determines the rights of parties in the suit and is appealable under Section 96, while an order is a decision that is not a decree and is appealable only where Section 104 or Order 43 provides. Avoid saying all orders are appealable.
Reading is not rehearsing. Answer these out loud to an AI Judicial Services Delhi DJS 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
More Judicial Services interviews
- Judicial Services UP PCS-J interviewLaw graduates, 22–35 years
- Judicial Services RJS interviewLaw graduates, 21–40 years
- Judicial Services MP Civil Judge interviewLaw graduates, 21–35 years
- Judicial Services Bihar / Haryana / Punjab Judiciary interviewLaw graduates, 21–35 years (varies by state)
- Judicial Services Gujarat / Maharashtra Judiciary interviewLaw graduates, 21–35 years (varies by state)