Assam Judicial Service · Gauhati High Court
Clear 60% in Assam’s prelims and you’ve earned nothing but a seat at the real exam.
Prelims is a 1:10 filter that never reaches the merit list — your rank is built entirely in the two Mains law papers, with the Assamese-language requirement as a hard gate. We map it subject-by-subject from five prelims papers and the shift to the new criminal codes.
- Conducting body Gauhati High Court, Guwahati
- Post Assam Judicial Service, Grade III
- Eligibility Law degree from a recognised Indian university
- Age Under 38 (under 43 for SC/ST), on last date
- Stages Prelims → Mains → Viva Voce
- Language Assamese tested in both prelims and Mains
Three stages, and only two of them count toward your rank.
Prelims is a pure 1:10 filter. Your entire merit is built in the two Mains law papers and the viva — plan your time accordingly.
Stage 1 · Screening
Preliminary Exam
Objective · single 100-mark paper
One paper only. It screens for Mains — marks do NOT carry into your final merit.
- Law + GK + English
- 90 marks
- Assamese proficiency
- 10 marks
- Cut-off · call ratio
- 60% · top 1:10 to Mains
Stage 2 · Selection
Main (Written) Exam
Descriptive · 5 papers
Two law papers (Paper-III, Paper-IV) carry 200 marks and drive your rank. Assamese is qualifying only.
- English · GK
- 100 + 100 marks
- Law Paper-I · Law Paper-II
- 100 + 100 marks
- Assamese (Paper-V)
- 50 marks · qualifying only
Stage 3 · Final
Viva Voce / Interview
Personality + law
Need 60% aggregate in Mains (45% per Paper I–IV) to be called. Viva is 50 marks; you must score 60% in it.
- Call to viva
- 60% Mains aggregate
- Per-paper floor
- 45% in Papers I–IV
- Viva
- 50 marks · 60% minimum
Can you apply? Check this before anything else.
Qualification
A Degree in Law granted by a recognised university established by law in India, held by the last date of application.
Age
Must not have completed 38 years (43 for SC/ST) as on the last date for applications. Relaxable by 10 years for benchmark-disability (locomotor) candidates and 15 years for SC/ST.
Bar enrolment
The notification requires only a law degree — it does not specify a separate bar-enrolment or practice requirement.
Nationality
Must be a citizen of India as defined in Articles 5 and 6 of the Constitution.
Assamese
Proficiency in Assamese, the official language, is tested in both prelims (10 marks) and the qualifying Mains Paper-V (50 marks).
Attempts
No attempt limit is specified in the notification — only the age ceiling applies.
The full syllabus, paper by paper.
Prelims screens you on one objective paper; Mains tests five papers, of which the two law papers build your rank.
Prelims
90 marks of General Knowledge, Aptitude, English, Constitution, CPC, CrPC/BNSS, Transfer of Property, Contract, IPC/BNS, Evidence Act/BSA and Law of Torts — plus 10 marks testing proficiency in Assamese.
Candidates scoring 60% or more qualify; they are called to the Mains in a 1:10 ratio. Prelims marks do not count toward final merit.
Mains — 5 papers
- Paper-I — English100
- Paper-II — General Knowledge100
- Paper-III — Law Paper-I (Constitution, CPC, TP Act, Contract)100
- Paper-IV — Law Paper-II (IPC/BNS, CrPC/BNSS, Evidence/BSA, Torts)100
- Paper-V — Assamese (qualifying)50
Prelims subjects, ranked by how hard the paper actually tests them.
Share of the 450 classified questions across the 2013, 2015, 2017, 2022 and 2023 prelims. The core law buckets are also the Mains law-paper subjects — so this is your map for both stages.
General Knowledge
18.2%Biggest — and most volatile
Swings from 4 to 45 questions a paper. Recent papers (2022–23) lean hard on Assam-specific history (Ahoms), geography, state symbols and current affairs.
English
10%Safest scoring zone
Steady ~10 a paper: synonyms/antonyms, sentence completion, one-word substitution, idioms, comprehension. High-yield, low-effort.
Constitution of India
8.7%Most reliable law subject
Consistently 5–10 a paper (10 in 2017 and 2022). Fundamental Rights, writs, Articles 19/20/21, judiciary, federalism, landmark cases.
CPC · CrPC · IPC trio
16%Core that surges when GK shrinks
Combined ~16% (CPC 5.6, IPC 5.3, CrPC 5.1). The law-heavy 2017 paper carried 26 of these together. Non-negotiable.
Family & Muslim Law
8.2%Erratic but can explode
Hindu Marriage/HMGA 5.1% + Muslim Law 3.1%. The 2022 paper alone had 25 personal-law questions — a quarter of the paper — despite not being in the named syllabus.
Allied Acts (Limitation, Arbitration, Registration, SRA, Trusts…)
15%Off-syllabus but decisive
Limitation 3.1% and Arbitration 3.1% appear every year; with Registration, SRA, Court Fees, MV Act, Labour and Trusts they form 13–15% of a paper. Small each, large together.
What to study first, and what gives the most marks per hour.
- Do first Constitution + GK
The single largest chunk of prelims (GK 18.2%, Constitution 8.7%). Master Constitution; treat Assam-specific GK as a selection-maker.
- Safest marks English
~10 stable questions a paper in a fixed vocabulary/grammar/comprehension format. Bank these.
- Core law CPC · CrPC · IPC + Evidence + Contract
The stable ~50% of any law-heavy paper. These are also exactly the Mains law-paper subjects — double payoff.
- Do not skip Family & Muslim Law
Off-syllabus but tested hard — 25 questions in 2022. Treat personal law as core, not residual.
- Cheap & cumulative Limitation · Arbitration · Registration · SRA · Trusts
Tiny each, but 13–15% of a paper together and very repetitive. Easy guaranteed marks.
- State-specific Assamese + local Acts
Assamese is mandatory in both stages; Court Fees and Land Acquisition recur. Build them in, don’t cram them.
The state-specific edge most all-India material skips.
Assamese language paper — unique to this exam
Prelims has a 10-mark Assamese proficiency block; Mains Paper-V (50 marks, qualifying) tests it again. Non-Assamese-medium candidates must build this deliberately — it can gate an otherwise strong score.
Court Fees Act & Land Acquisition / RFCTLARR
Assam’s recurring local-law signal in prelims. Low volume but high-certainty — definitions, forums, valuation and appeal/revision. A few cheap, reliable marks if revised once.
Study the new codes — BNS, BNSS, BSA
The notification lists Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and Sakshya Adhiniyam (2023) alongside IPC/CrPC/Evidence. Every PYQ (2013–2023) predates the 1 July 2024 switch — re-map old section numbers; the concepts (private defence, dying declaration, bail) still recur.
Everything you need to practise Assam Judiciary — free.
Past Assam prelims papers (2013–2023), solved and arranged like the real 100-mark objective exam.
Open Mains Mains Questions & SolutionsAssam mains law papers (2019 and 2023) with model answers for Paper-III and Paper-IV.
Open Notes Free Notes & LecturesSubject-wise notes — Constitution, CPC, CrPC, Contract, Evidence and personal law and more.
OpenRead the actual Assam papers this analysis is built on.
Start with the distribution files for the big picture, then solve full papers in timed blocks.
Method: every question in five prelims papers (450 total, 90 each) was read and classified by legal subject — not inferred from headings. The 10-mark Assamese component is absent from every source file, and Mains data covers only the two law papers (2019, 2023), so treat exact shares as well-grounded estimates.
Assam Judiciary — quick answers.
Who conducts the Assam Judiciary exam?
The Gauhati High Court at Guwahati recruits for Grade-III of the Assam Judicial Service, governed by the Assam Judicial Service Rules.
What is the eligibility for Assam Judiciary?
A law degree from a recognised Indian university, Indian citizenship, and age under 38 years (under 43 for SC/ST) on the last date of application. The notification does not specify a separate bar-enrolment requirement.
Does the Prelims score count in the final merit?
No. The Preliminary Examination is only a screening test that calls candidates to the Mains in a 1:10 ratio. Final merit is built from the Mains written papers and the viva.
What is the Prelims cut-off?
Candidates must secure 60% or more in the 100-mark objective prelims to be eligible for the Main Examination.
How many papers are in the Mains?
Five papers — English, General Knowledge, two Law papers (Paper-III and Paper-IV, 100 marks each) that drive your rank, and a qualifying Assamese paper (Paper-V, 50 marks).
Should I study IPC/CrPC or the new criminal codes?
The notification lists the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA), 2023, alongside the older codes. Study the new codes and re-map old previous-year section numbers.
Is Assamese compulsory for Assam Judiciary?
Yes. Proficiency in Assamese is tested for 10 marks in prelims and again in the qualifying Mains Paper-V (50 marks), which needs at least 35% to clear.
Practise on questions built to this exact weightage.
Free mock series modelled on the Gauhati HC pattern — the 100-mark prelims, the two Mains law papers, allied Acts, and BNS/BNSS/BSA-mapped questions.