Chhattisgarh Judiciary Exam Pattern 2026: Structure And Marking Scheme

The Chhattisgarh Judiciary exam pattern has three stages - a 100-mark objective Prelims that only screens candidates, a descriptive Mains of four papers worth 400 marks, and a 25-mark Interview (Viva-voce).

The Chhattisgarh Public Service Commission (CGPSC) conducts the exam for the post of Civil Judge (Junior Division).

• Candidates final rank depends only on Mains and Interview (Viva marks) out of 425.
• The Mains and Interview marks come from the September 2026 amendment to the Chhattisgarh Lower Judicial Service (Recruitment and Conditions of Service) Rules, 2006.
• Earlier cycles used a 100-mark Mains and a 15-mark Interview, so older notes and question papers will not match the new structure.

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Chhattisgarh Judiciary Exam Pattern 2026 Overview

The table below covers up the Chhattisgarh Judiciary exam pattern 2026 and states who conducts the exam, its three stages and the marks for each. Only the Mains and Viva-voce count towards your final rank, which is calculated out of 425 marks.

Particular	Details
Conducting body	Chhattisgarh Public Service Commission (CGPSC), under the supervision of a committee of High Court judges
Post	Civil Judge (Junior Division) (Entry Level)
Stages	Prelims → Mains (written) → Viva voce
Prelims	100 objective questions for 100 marks in 2 hours. This stage is qualifying only.
Mains	Four descriptive papers, each worth 100 marks and lasting 3 hours. Total: 400 marks.
Viva voce	25 marks
Shortlisting	10 times the number of vacancies for Mains and 3 times for viva voce.
Final merit	Mains (400 marks) + Interview (viva voce) (25 marks) = 425 marks

Chhattisgarh Judiciary Prelims Exam Pattern 2026

The Prelims consists of a single two-hour paper with 100 multiple-choice questions. The score is used only to shortlist candidates for the Mains. Final merit is based on the Mains and viva voce marks.

Particulars	Prelims Exam Pattern
Questions	100 multiple-choice questions
Marks	100 (1 mark per question)
Duration	2 hours
Nature	Screening (qualifying)

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Chhattisgarh Judiciary Prelims subjects 

Schedule-I of the Rules lists 16 subjects for the Prelims. Candidates can refer Chhattisgarh Judiciary syllabus for topic-wise detail and weightage details.

Three of them are the new criminal laws that replaced the IPC, CrPC and Evidence Act:

• Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS)
• Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS)
• Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 (BSA)
• Code of Civil Procedure
• Constitution of India
• Transfer of Property Act
• Contract Act
• Limitation Act
• Chhattisgarh Rent Control Act, 2011
• Court Fees Act
• Specific Relief Act
• Registration Act
• Chhattisgarh Land Revenue Code
• Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881
• Chhattisgarh Excise Act, 1915
• General Knowledge of Chhattisgarh

Past Prelims cut-offs give a sense of the score you need; refer Chhattisgarh Judiciary cut-off marks by category and year.

Chhattisgarh Judiciary Mains Exam Pattern 2026

The Mains now has four descriptive papers of 100 marks each, and every paper runs for three hours. Two papers test substantive and procedural law, one tests language and analytical writing, and one tests practical drafting and judgment writing.

Paper	Subject	Marks
Paper 1	Civil Law	100
Paper 2	Criminal Law	100
Paper 3	Language, Social and Legal Perspective, and Translation	100
Paper 4	Judgment Writing, Conveyancing and Pleadings	100
Total		400

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Paper 1: Civil Law 

Paper 1 covers the main civil statutes a Civil Judge applies daily: the Code of Civil Procedure, Contract Act, Specific Relief Act, Limitation Act, Transfer of Property Act, Constitution of India, Hindu Succession Act and the Chhattisgarh Land Revenue Code. Expect problem-based questions where you apply provisions to facts, not just recall them.

Paper 2: Criminal Law 

Paper 2 is built on BNS, BNSS and BSA, along with the Negotiable Instruments Act, Chhattisgarh Excise Act, Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, Arms Act and Information Technology Act. Notes written for the IPC, CrPC and Evidence Act need to be re-mapped to the new section numbers.

Paper 3: Language, Social and Legal Perspective, and Translation

Paper 3 tests how well you write and reason in both English and Hindi, not just how much law you know. It combines grammar, two structured articles, recent legal developments and two-way translation in one 100-mark paper.

Details	Marks
English language (correction, synonyms, antonyms, one-word substitution and précis)	10
Hindi language (the same skills in Hindi)	10
Article on a social topic	20
Article on a legal topic	20
Legal knowledge (recent laws and judicial trends)	20
English-to-Hindi translation	10
Hindi-to-English translation	10
Total	100

Paper 4: Judgment Writing, Conveyancing and Pleadings 

Paper 4 checks whether you can do the day-to-day work of a Civil Judge: draft legal documents and write reasoned judgments from a set of facts. Most of its marks go to civil and criminal judgment writing, with a smaller share for drafting pleadings.

Particulars	Marks
Conveyancing and pleadings (plaint, written statement, bail application, petition and notice)	20
Civil judgment (framing issues, appreciating evidence, recording findings and drafting the decree)	40
Criminal judgment (framing charges, appreciating evidence, deciding on conviction or acquittal, and sentencing where applicable)	40
Total	100

For a paper-by-paper study plan, candidates can read Chhattisgarh Judiciary Mains preparation tips.

Chhattisgarh Judiciary Interview (Viva-Voce) Exam Pattern 2026

The Interview (Viva-voce) now carries 25 marks. CGPSC calls candidates in a ratio of 1:3 against the vacancies, based on Mains marks, and a sitting High Court judge nominated by the Chief Justice takes part in the interview panel.

The Interview (Viva) has its own minimum: 33% for unreserved candidates and 25% for SC, ST and OBC candidates. On 25 marks, that works out to 8.25 and 6.25 marks. A candidate who scores below this is not selected, however high the Mains score.

How the Final Merit List Is Prepared 

CGPSC ranks candidates on the total of Mains (400) and Interview (25) marks, out of 425. Prelims marks are not counted.

If two candidates have the same total, the older candidate is placed higher; if they are also the same age, the one with more marks in the written examination is placed higher.

Old vs New Chhattisgarh Judiciary Exam Pattern 2026

The September 2026 amendment remains the Prelims as it was but modified the Mains and raises the Interview (Viva-voce) marks, taking the merit total from 115 to 425.

The table shows each change side by side, so you can see which parts of older study material still apply.

Particulars	Old pattern (until the 2025–26 cycle)	New pattern (September 2026 amendment)
Prelims	100 MCQs, 2 hours, qualifying	No reported change
Mains papers	Civil judgment (40 marks), criminal judgment (40 marks) and translation (10 + 10 marks)	4 papers of 100 marks each
Mains total	100 marks	400 marks
Viva voce	15 marks	25 marks
Marks for final merit	115 marks	425 marks
Substantive law in Mains	Not tested directly	Paper 1 and Paper 2 (200 marks combined)
Essays and legal awareness	Not tested	60 marks in Paper 3
Drafting and pleadings	Not tested	20 marks in Paper 4

What the New Pattern Means for Your Preparation 

The numbers change where your marks come from. Judgment writing was 80% of the old Mains; it is now 80 of 400 marks, or 20%. Half the Mains (200 marks) now tests civil and criminal law in depth, so Prelims-level knowledge of the Acts is no longer enough.

Translation falls from 20% of the Mains to 5%. The Viva rises from 15 to 25 marks, but its share of the final merit actually drops, from about 13% (15 of 115) to about 6% (25 of 425). In practice, the written Mains decides most of the final list.

• Make descriptive answer-writing on CPC, TPA, Contract, BNS and BNSS a weekly habit, not a last-month task.
• Keep a running file of Supreme Court and Chhattisgarh High Court judgments for the 20-mark legal knowledge section.
• Practise one plaint, one written statement and one bail application each fortnight for the drafting section.
• Practise both articles in the four-part structure so that each part earns its 5 marks.

Candidates can refer preparation strategy and study plan for Chhattisgarh Judiciary which turns these priorities into a month-wise plan.

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Key Takeaways

Here are the essential points about the Chhattisgarh Judiciary exam pattern 2026, including the September 2026 changes.

• CGPSC conducts the Civil Judge (Junior Division) exam in three stages: Prelims, Mains (Written) and Viva-voce.
• The Prelims has 100 objective questions for 100 marks in 2 hours, and it only screens candidates; its marks are not added to the final merit.
• Candidates are shortlisted for the Mains at 10 times the vacancies and for the Viva at 3 times the vacancies.
• After the September 2026 amendment, the Mains has four 3-hour papers of 100 marks each (400 marks): Civil Law, Criminal Law, Language and Translation, and Judgment Writing and Pleadings.
• The Viva-voce now carries 25 marks instead of 15, with a minimum of 33% for unreserved and 25% for SC, ST and OBC candidates.
• Final merit is based on Mains and Viva marks out of 425; the written Mains makes up about 94% of it.
• The criminal law portions in both Prelims and Mains follow BNS, BNSS and BSA, not the IPC, CrPC and Evidence Act.

If you want a structured guidance, take a free demo online class or talk to a Judiciary Gold counsellor about the course.