Delhi High Court JJA Syllabus 2026 — Complete Prelims & Mains Guide for 22nd March Exam

Key Highlights

• Delhi High Court is recruiting 152 Junior Judicial Assistants through a multi-stage selection process
• The Preliminary Examination (CBT) is scheduled for 22nd March 2026, which is this Sunday
• Prelims carries 120 questions for 120 marks in 120 minutes — with 0.25 negative marking per wrong answer
• Three subjects tested in Prelims: English (45), General Awareness (45), Reasoning & Maths (30)
• Mains is a 100-mark descriptive paper — Essay, Letter, Grammar, and Translation
• English Typing Test requires a minimum speed of 35 words per minute
• Interview carries 15 marks and contributes directly to the final merit list
• Official syllabus PDF available at delhihighcourt.nic.in

Sunday, 22nd March 2026 is arriving fast. For the thousands of candidates who applied for the Delhi High Court Junior Judicial Assistant post, this is the week that decides whether all those hours of preparation pay off or not. The Preliminary Examination kicks off in a matter of days — and if you are still piecing together what exactly the syllabus covers, what the marking scheme looks like, or how the entire selection process works from beginning to end, this is where you get your answers.

The Delhi High Court JJA recruitment is not a small affair. One hundred and fifty-two vacancies, an entirely online examination process, and a selection pipeline that goes through Prelims, Mains, a Typing Test, and an Interview before a single appointment letter goes out. Every stage has its own rules, its own minimum requirements, and its own way of catching unprepared candidates off guard.

This guide covers all of it — in plain language, with everything laid out the way it actually works.

What the Recruitment Looks Like

Before anything else, here is a quick snapshot of the key details every candidate should have memorised by now:

• Organisation: Delhi High Court
• Post: Junior Judicial Assistant (JJA)
• Total Vacancies: 152
• Mode of Exam: Online CBT (Computer-Based Test)
• Prelims Exam Date: 22nd March 2026 (Sunday)
• Question Type: Objective Type MCQ (Prelims) | Descriptive (Mains)
• Total Questions in Prelims: 120
• Total Marks: Prelims — 120 | Mains — 100
• Time Allowed: 120 minutes (both Prelims and Mains)
• Official Website: delhihighcourt.nic.in

How the Selection Actually Works

A lot of candidates get confused about which stage counts and which stage is just qualifying. Here is the full selection pipeline laid out clearly:

• Stage 1 — Preliminary Examination (CBT): Objective, online, qualifying in nature. Your marks here do not carry forward.
• Stage 2 — Main Examination (Descriptive): This is where your score starts mattering. Marks from this stage go into the final merit list.
• Stage 3 — English Typing Test: Qualifying. You either pass the speed requirement or you don’t. No marks are given.
• Stage 4 — Interview: 15 marks, and these directly influence your final rank.
• Stage 5 — Document Verification and Medical Examination: The final formality before an appointment is confirmed.

The final merit list is built on Mains marks plus Interview marks. That is the number that decides your rank among all candidates who make it to the end.

The Prelims Exam Pattern — What You Are Actually Walking Into

Think of the Prelims as the filter. It is designed to narrow down the field before the real scoring begins. Here is what the paper looks like:

A few things about this paper that are easy to overlook:

• Every correct answer gives you 1 mark. Every wrong answer takes away 0.25 marks. Questions you leave blank carry no penalty at all.
• There is no sectional time limit — 120 minutes is the total window for all three parts combined.
• The paper is entirely in English.
• It is conducted in online mode; you will be working on a computer screen, not a printed sheet.

The negative marking here is a strategic factor, not just a detail. Getting 80 questions right and 40 wrong is worse than getting 80 right and leaving 40 blank. Know when to skip.

The Mains Exam Pattern — Where It Actually Counts

If Prelims is the filter, Mains is the real exam. This is where language skills, writing ability, and grammar knowledge are tested properly — and where your score enters the merit calculation.

Some important things to know about clearing Mains:

• The entire exam is conducted in English — there is no Hindi medium option at this stage.
• General Category candidates must score a minimum of 50% — that is 50 marks out of 100 — to qualify.
• Reserved Category and PwBD candidates need a minimum of 45% — 45 marks out of 100.
• Candidates who fall below these cut-offs do not proceed to the Typing Test or Interview, regardless of how well they did in Prelims.

The Typing Test — Simple Enough, But Do Not Ignore It

The English Typing Test is qualifying — no marks, no ranking, just pass or fail. But it has ended the journey of many candidates who assumed they could wing it.

• Minimum speed required: 35 words per minute in English
• Mode: Computer keyboard
• Duration: 10 minutes
• Speed measurement: Characters with space (not just words)
• Error permissibility: Maximum 3% of total words typed

If you have not been practicing regularly, ten minutes of typing under pressure feels very different from casual everyday typing. Build the habit now — even 15 minutes of daily practice on a free typing tool will make a measurable difference within a week.

The Interview — The Final Stretch

By the time candidates reach the Interview, the field is already very small. Here is what you need to know:

• Maximum marks: 15
• Minimum qualifying marks: None — there is no floor here
• What it tests: Communication, presence of mind, awareness of the judicial system, and overall personality
• What goes into the final merit: Mains marks + Interview marks, combined

Given that this is a judicial service recruitment, candidates who walk into the Interview with a working understanding of how the Indian court system functions — hierarchies, roles, landmark cases, constitutional provisions — tend to leave a stronger impression.

Delhi High Court JJA Syllabus 2026 — Every Topic, Every Section

Part I: English Language & Comprehension (45 Questions)

English is the single largest section in Prelims — 45 questions, 45 marks — and it doubles down on your skills in Mains too. Here is every topic the syllabus covers:

• Vocabulary: Synonyms and Antonyms tested in sentence context
• Reading Comprehension: Passage-based questions requiring inference, understanding of tone, and factual recall
• Idioms and Phrases: Meaning-based and usage-based questions on common English expressions
• One Word Substitution: Replacing lengthy descriptive phrases with a precise single word
• Gender: Masculine, feminine, and neutral gender forms across common and proper nouns
• Degrees of Comparison: Positive, comparative, and superlative — and how to convert between them
• Prepositions: Correct preposition selection in sentences where context determines meaning
• Articles: Placement of ‘a’, ‘an’, and ‘the’ — tested through fill-in-the-blank format
• Fill in the Blanks: Sentence completion based on grammar and vocabulary
• Shuffling of Sentence Parts: Rearranging jumbled parts of a sentence into logical, grammatically correct order
• Spot the Error: Reading a sentence and identifying where the grammar breaks down
• Active and Passive Voice: Converting sentences between active and passive construction
• Direct and Indirect Narration: Changing reported speech from direct to indirect form and vice versa

Comprehension passages and Error Spotting together tend to carry the most weight in this section. If your grammar foundation is solid and you are a regular reader, these two areas alone can secure you double digits comfortably.

Part II: General Awareness / Knowledge and Current Affairs / Events (45 Questions)

Another 45-mark section, and one where consistent reading over months matters far more than last-minute revision. The topics spread wide but lean predictably toward civics and current affairs:

• Constitution of India: Salient features, fundamental rights and duties, directive principles, Preamble, major constitutional amendments
• Indian Judiciary: Structure of the Supreme Court, High Courts, and District Courts; roles and responsibilities; landmark judgments that shaped Indian law
• Sports and Games: National and international sporting events, records, and award winners from recent years
• Art and Culture: Classical music and dance forms, UNESCO World Heritage Sites in India, famous festivals, cultural traditions
• Indian History: Key events and personalities across ancient, medieval, and modern India — with a focus on the independence movement
• Polity and Geography: State and central government structure, Indian political system, geographical features such as rivers, mountain ranges, plains, and climate zones
• Everyday Science: Practical science concepts drawn from Physics, Chemistry, and Biology — the kind that appear in daily life
• National and International Organisations / Institutions / Awards: UN bodies, Indian constitutional bodies, Padma Awards, Nobel Prize, Bharat Ratna, and sports honours
• Famous Personalities: Leaders, scientists, authors, judges, and public figures — Indian and global
• Important Days and Events: National and international observances, historical anniversaries
• Inventions and Discoveries: Key scientific milestones and the individuals behind them

Because this is a Delhi High Court exam, the Constitution and Indian Judiciary topics deserve extra attention. These are not generic GK additions — they are the professional context of the job itself.

Part III: General Intelligence, Reasoning & Numerical / Arithmetic Ability (30 Questions)

Thirty questions for 30 marks — the smallest section by weight but still important. It splits between reasoning and basic maths:

Reasoning Topics:

• Analogies: Understanding the relationship between a given pair and applying the same logic to find the missing element
• Similarities and Differences: Spotting what two or more items share — or how they diverge
• Classification (Odd One Out): Identifying the one item in a group that does not follow the same category logic
• Problem Solving and Decision Making: Multi-step logical reasoning questions requiring structured thinking
• Relationship Concepts: Blood relations, coded relationships, and direction-based puzzles

Numerical / Arithmetic Topics:

• BODMAS: Correct order of mathematical operations in complex expressions
• Percentage: Including applications in Profit & Loss, Discount, and percentage change
• Simple and Compound Interest: Formula-based calculations on principal, rate, and time
• Time, Speed & Distance / Time & Work: Word problems that require setting up equations from given conditions
• Ratio and Proportion: Including direct proportion, inverse proportion, and partnership problems

Reasoning questions are generally quicker to attempt than Maths. In a timed exam, clearing reasoning first and then moving to numerical problems is a practical approach that works for most candidates.

The Mains Syllabus in Detail

The Mains exam is purely about English — written, precise, and structured. Here is what each component actually demands from you:

Part A — Essay and Letter Writing (50 Marks)

• Essay — 40 Marks: A 250-word essay on a topic that is typically contemporary, social, or governance-related. The examiner is looking for logical structure, clarity of argument, and vocabulary that feels confident without being overblown. Practice writing on topics like judicial reforms, environmental policy, digital governance, or social issues.
• Letter — 10 Marks: An official or formal letter. Format matters as much as content here — correct salutation, organised body paragraphs, and an appropriate closing. Practise at least five to six different letter types: complaint letters, application letters, letters to editors, and official communications.

Part B — Grammar and Translation (50 Marks)

• Grammar — 30 Marks: Core grammar in application — tenses, parts of speech, sentence correction, voice, narration, and error identification. This is not a test of theory but of whether you can actually apply grammar rules correctly under pressure.
• Translation — 20 Marks: Approximately 25 words translated — most commonly from Hindi to English or English to Hindi. Accuracy in meaning, not word-for-word literalism, is what scores marks here.

Making the Best of the Time You Have Left

With Prelims just days away and Mains not far behind, here is how to use what remains:

• Cross-check the syllabus against your notes right now. Every topic you have not covered is a gap that costs you marks. The official PDF is on delhihighcourt.nic.in — go through it line by line.
• Run at least two full-length mock tests before Sunday. Timed practice under exam conditions is the only way to understand how 120 minutes actually feels when the clock is running and negative marking is on.
• Be disciplined about negative marking. A guess that goes wrong costs you 1.25 marks net — the 1 mark you would have scored plus the 0.25 deducted. Leave it blank unless you have genuine reason to believe your answer is right.
• English and General Awareness are your biggest opportunity. Together they are 90 out of 120 marks. Any candidate who is strong in both of these sections has a real advantage over the field.
• Start writing essays and letters for Mains now. One essay per day between Prelims and Mains is not excessive — it is the bare minimum if you want Part A to feel natural on exam day.
• Practice typing daily. Ten minutes on a free typing platform every morning is all it takes to build comfort with the 35 WPM requirement.
• Prepare for the Interview from the beginning. Read about the Delhi High Court, understand the structure of the Indian judiciary, and be ready to speak about why you want to work in a judicial institution.