Delhi Judiciary — Previous-Year Papers

Every Delhi Judiciary paper we have, free to read and download. 6 prelims and 4 mains papers — each one also available as a clean, branded PDF.

← Full Delhi Judiciary exam guide, pattern & syllabus

Delhi Judiciary · Prelims

What the Delhi prelims actually tests

One 200-mark objective screening paper with 25% negative marking (−0.25 per wrong) — qualifying only, so its marks never reach the merit list, but you must clear 60% (General) / 55% (reserved) to advance in the ~1:10 screen. Built on the site's deepest archive — 1198 questions across six papers (2011–2023). Bars show share of the whole paper and the line tracks each subject over those twelve years.

General Knowledge & Current Legal Affairs 14.8%

The single largest head overall, and the most volatile — 43–55 questions in 2011/2015 collapsed to 10–17 by 2018–2023. It has *mutated*: generic trivia gave way to landmark judgments, amendments and judicial-system current affairs.

English Language & Comprehension 13.5%

Nearly always the second-heaviest block — vocabulary, idioms, prepositions, spelling and reading-comprehension passages. The 2011 paper hit 50 questions; recent papers settle around 15–21. A guaranteed, low-volatility scoring zone.

Code of Civil Procedure 12.8%

The clearest rising subject on the paper — from a thin 8 in 2011 to a sustained 28–39 since 2018. Tested as detailed problems: amendment, ex-parte decrees, Order 37 summary suits, execution, res judicata. Top priority.

Code of Criminal Procedure 12.2%

Equally weighty and never below 17 — drifting up to ~30 in 2022/2023 (the 2022 paper opened with a 30-question CrPC block). Scenario-based: arrest, bail, cognizance, framing of charge. Top priority.

Indian Penal Code 9.8%

Stable then climbing — 15–17 early, then 25 in both 2022 and 2023. Heavy on general exceptions, offences against the body/property and applied illustrations.

Constitution of India 9.1%

Solid and reliable (the 2019 dip to 8 is the lone outlier). Provision-recall plus doctrine — fundamental rights, writs, federal scheme. High-return memorisation subject.

Indian Evidence Act 7.3%

A clearly rising mid-weight head — doubled to 20 in both 2022 and 2023. Burden of proof, admissions/confessions, secondary & electronic evidence, presumptions recur. Priority increasing.

Arbitration & Conciliation Act 5.3%

Delhi's distinctive specialty — present every year and now 15–16 questions (the 2 in 2018 was an aberration). Section 8, Section 11, Section 34/37 and scope of judicial intervention recur. Do not skip it.

Contract + Limitation Act 8.6%

Two reliable mid-minor heads together. Limitation is steady 7–10 every recent year (condonation, computation, s.18 acknowledgement) — the best marks-per-hour on the paper; Contract runs 5–12 (offer/acceptance, void vs voidable, guarantee).

Newer & minor heads · Commercial Courts + POCSO + SRA + LLP 5.8%

A rising tail driven by the updated syllabus: Commercial Courts Act and POCSO appeared only from 2022 (~13–15 combined) and are now fixtures. Specific Relief (~4) and LLP (~3) round it out. TPA and Hindu Law sit in Mains, not prelims.

A quarter of the Delhi prelims isn't bare-Act law. English language & comprehension (~13.5%) and General Knowledge / current legal affairs (~14.8%) together make up about 28% of every paper — more non-statute content than any other judiciary here. Prep only the Acts list and you under-prepare by a quarter. And the GK head has mutated: the 43–55 generic-trivia questions of 2011/2015 became a smaller, sharply legal current-affairs slice (landmark judgments, amendments, who's-who of the judiciary) by 2018–2023 — so track the courts, not quiz books.

The maths punishes guessing — and the papers are still on the old codes. With 25% negative marking on a paper that only has to be *cleared*, the strategy is to bank the cut-off and not gamble on stems you can't eliminate down to two. On substance, all six analysed papers (latest 2023) test the IPC, CrPC and Evidence Act; the notification now pairs them with the BNS, BNSS and BSA (in force since 1 July 2024), so prepare both, mapped section-to-section. Note: the Delhi Rent Control Act is a Mains subject, not prelims — it surfaces only incidentally here (2 stems in 1198), so don't over-invest for the screen.