Candidates preparing for Delhi Judicial Services should solve the Delhi Judicial Services Mains 2023 Previous Year Paper and other previous year question papers before they face Prelims and Mains.
Additionally, it gives an idea about the syllabus and the way to prepare the subjects by keeping the previous year’s questions in mind. All toppers are mindful and cognizant of the types of questions asked by the DJS, to be aware of the various different tricks and types of questions. This should be done by every aspirant when starting their preparation. It is very important to have an overall understanding of the pattern and design of questions.
Important Instructions
(i) Please read the questions carefully and answer them as directed.
(ii) All questions are compulsory, unless specified.
(iii) You are allowed 15 minutes time before the examination begins, during which you should read the question paper and, if you wish, highlight and/or make notes on the question paper. However, you are not allowed, under any circumstances, to open the answer sheet and start writing during this time.
(iv) The answer to each question should begin on a fresh page.
(v) This paper is to test the candidate’s awareness of general legal knowledge and English language. Credit will be given for substance, cohesive and concise presentation, articulation of views, ideas and employment of appropriate vocabulary and expression.
(vi) Before you start writing the answers, please write your Roll Number at the top.
SECTION – I
GENERAL LEGAL KNOWLEDGE
Question 1
Write short notes in about 200 words on any six of the following, with reference to recent discourse in public domain: (6*10 marks = 60 marks)
(i) Paper leak in public examinations
(ii) Criminal law reforms
(iii) One Nation – One Election
(iv) Bilkis Bano case – remission granted to convicts
(v) Uniform Civil Code
(vi) Same sex marriage in India
(vii) Women’s reservation
(viii) National Judicial Appointments Commission
Question 2
Please specify whether the following statements are True or False, justifying your answers in three/ four sentences each: (10*2 marks=20 Marks)
(i) Article 35-A of the Constitution of India granted to Jammu & Kashmir an autonomous status, conferred on it the power to have its own constitution, and restricted Parliament’s legislative powers in this respect.
(ii) Res Ipsa loquitur is generally applied in claims under torts.
(iii) Justice M. Fathima Beevi was the first lady Chief Justice of India.
(iv) Veto power is available to each permanent member of the Security Council of the United Nations.
(v) Group of Companies doctrine is invoked, to seek the holding company being held to be liable, though not a party to contract entered by its subsidiary which is alleged to be in breach.
(vi) President of India is not only the head of the executive, but also wields legislative and judicial powers.
(vii) The decision rendered by the International Criminal Court concerning hostilities in Gaza strip since October 2023 will be binding on Israel but not on Hamas.
(viii) The word “secular” was inserted in the Preamble to the Constitution as one of the changes through 42nd Amendment, all of which were later repealed by 43rd & 44th Amendments.
(ix) The recommendations of the National Judicial Pay Commission relate to salary and perquisites of the members only of the district judiciary.
(x) Jallikattu case related to alleged human rights violations in the State of Tamil Nadu.
Question 3
Explain the legal perspective of the following, in the context of India, very briefly in a three/ four sentences each: (10*2 marks = 20 Marks)
(i) Electoral Bonds
(ii) Stare decisis
(iii) Regional benches of the Supreme Court of India
(iv) Government of India Act, 1935
(v) Vulnerable witnesses
(vi) Minimum Support Price
(vii) Control over “law & order” in NCT of Delhi
(viii) Preventive detention
(ix) Hung legislature
(x) Citizenship Amendment Act
SECTION – II
LANGUAGE
Question 4
A responsible press is the handmaiden of effective judicial administration. The press does not simply publish information about cases and trials but subjects the entire hierarchy of the administration of justice (police, prosecutors, lawyers, judges, courts), as well as the judicial processes, to public scrutiny. Free and robust reporting, criticism and debate contribute to public understanding of the rule of law, and to a better comprehension of the entire justice system. It also helps improve the quality of that system by subjecting it to the cleansing effect of exposure and public accountability.
Today, this responsible press is often being accused of ‘trial by media, a phrase that describes the impact of electronic media, social media, television, and print media coverage on a person’s reputation by creating a widespread perception of guilt or innocence before, or after, a verdict in a court of law.
The Hon’ble Supreme Court has ruled that freedom of press is a fundamental right covered by the right to freedom of speech and expression. However, the manner in which court news is being reported by media has serious implications and has been held to quote “Today electronic and print media are freely commenting on pending cases in an attempt to influence judges and public perception. This is doing great damage to the institution”.
To conclude, freedom of press has always been a cherished right in all democratic countries and the press has rightly been described as the Fourth Pillar of Democracy. The State and the Fourth Estate have a responsibility to defer to each other’s respective domains. While the State should be circumspect regarding any censorship or penal action against the media, at the same time the media should refrain from any unwarranted transgressions. Media trials entail the possibility of subverting administration of justice right from the stage of investigation, trial and finally sentencing. In today’s age of click-bait journalism aimed at satisfying the increasingly short attention span of viewers there exists a subtle by clearly defined line which should not be crossed. Factual narration in itself is safe, however done with a pre-disposed view towards guilt or innocence without any official indictment is clear case of overreach by the media.
Question 5
Translate the following into Hindi: (30 Marks)
Sanga Moses grew up in a small Ugandan village of thatched road dwellings that lacked electricity. Yet he became his clan’s first college graduate and took a bank job in Kampala.
Returning home for a visit from the Ugandan capital in 2009, he met his 12 year old sister on the road. “She stood there crying with a heavy bundle of wood on her head,” Moses remembers. “She was upset because like most rural girls, she missed days of school each week searching for fuel wood.” “My sister was losing the only opportunity she had to make her life better…education.”
It wasn’t the only change Moses noticed in his hometown. “When I was young, our home was surrounded by national forests,” he says. “Now all those trees are gone, and children must walk longer and longer distances to gather wood.”
Searching for solutions to problems born of burning wood, Moses quit his job and began learning everything he could about renewable resources. Eventually he came across the increasingly popular practice of turning organic waste into fuel.
“I looked out of my window and saw a huge pile of sugarcane debris,” he says. “Uganda is primarily agricultural, but farm waste is just abandoned.”
So Moses began working with engineering students to design kilns to turn farm waste – coffee husks and waste from sugar cane and rice – into charcoal. This charcoal is turned into briquettes for cooking that burn cleaner and cost less than wood.”
Question 6
Designing board games for a living is an interesting, though not a particularly ________ (1) (awful; lucrative; tiresome) job. The first step in my process is to come up with an idea; it may be a theme like intergalactic trading among alien races, or a mechanism like ________ (2) (casting; overwhelming; rolling) a unique kind of die. Often, when I feel like I have a great idea, and I find out somebody else has already done something ________ (3)(disparate; similar; decrepit), I have to ________ (4) (go back to the drawing board; enter into the drawing board; rely on the drawing board).
After I decide on a concept for my game, the next step is determining a design. This is the most intellectually stimulating part of the ________ (5)( enterprise; exploration; explanation). I have to make sure that every mechanism, rule, and________ (6) (accompanied; accompanying; accompany) piece of text makes sense in the context of the whole game, a task that ________ (7) (will have required; had required; requires) both attention to detail and systemic thinking.
During the design process, I ________ (8) (refining; have refine; refine) the rules with help from others who playtest my prototype. Playtesting helps make sure that my ideas make sense to someone ________ (9) (in spite of; other; together) than just me. I usually play the game I’m working on hundreds of times before I ________ (10) (finalise; could have finalised; should finalise) the rules.
Question 7
हास्य एक प्राकृतिक देन है और वह प्रेम की ही तरह स्वतः उत्पन्न होता है, जबकि प्रेम दो वस्तुओं के आकर्षण से उत्पन्न होता है। हास्य दो वस्तुओं के विकर्षण का परिणाम है।
जैसे किसी पटवारी की कलम गिर गई, देखकर एक शोषित किसान ने कह दिया, “मुंशीजी, आपकी छुरी गिर गई।” लोग हंस पड़े। लेकिन वास्तव में यह घटना पटवारी के किसानों के प्रति दुर्व्यवहार के कारण हुई।
अक्सर दूसरों की भूल या दुर्दशा में जो हास्य जागृत होता है उसमें हंसनेवाले के छिपे अहम् और उच्चता की भावना की अधिक भूमिका है। प्रत्येक हंसनेवाले में थोड़ी बहुत दबी हुई क्रूरता होती है। सज्जन दूसरों की भूलों और दुर्दशा को सहृदयता से टाल देते हैं, लेकिन दूसरे उन पर हंसते हैं। उच्चता की भावना के साथ-साथ कुछ धन्यवाद की-सी भावना भी होती है और मन में अजीब-सा तनाव हो जाता है।
Question 8
(i) Relevance of grammar in the age of instant messaging and online platforms.
(ii) Use of Artificial Intelligence in education.
(iii) The threat of fake news and fake videos in a democracy.