Megha Purohit has been interviewed by SCC Online Student Ambassador Sankalp Udgata on her qualifying the Madhya Pradesh Judicial Services Examination, 2019.
- Can you tell us a little about yourself, your interests and reasons for pursuing law? Please tell us about your achievement in the judicial services examination.
Hello everyone, my name is Megha Purohit. I did my schooling from Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Jhansi. I completed my B.A.LL.B(H) from NUSRL, Ranchi in 2016 and LL.M in Human Rights from NLSIU, Bengaluru in 2017 with gold medals. I also qualified NET-JRF in 2018 and recently, qualified M.P. Judicial Services, 2019 with rank 87.
My interests involve writing articles on contemporary issues, sketching and travelling!
The main compelling factor behind pursuing law for me was my inclination towards judicial services.
- Why did you choose judiciary as a career?
I believe that judiciary is the only empowering institution where people repose their trust because it has always proven itself as a saviour of individuals’ rights and liberties. Moreover, job satisfaction and dignity of the profession are two other reasons behind opting judiciary as my career.
- What approach did you adopt for preparations? What was your schedule, strategy and motivation?
I started preparing for M.P. judiciary in 2017 after my LL.M got over. This examination has three stages i.e. preliminary, mains followed by the interview. Preliminary examination is an objective paper of 150 marks which includes law of 110 marks, general knowledge of 20 marks, computer of 10 marks and english of 10 marks.
Mains examination consists of four papers i.e. civil and constitutional law, article and summary writing, local laws and criminal laws and last paper is of judgment writing, charge framing and issues framing.
The final stage is the interview, which is of 50 marks and one must secure at least 20 marks to be eligible for the appointment and thus, merit is prepared accordingly.
#As far as my strategy is concerned, for prelims, I relied on bare acts, self-made notes and previous years question papers. For static G.K, I referred Lucent and for M.P. specific G.K., I relied on books by Arihant and Punekar publications. For current affairs, I relied on the Hindu newspaper, online sources and some YouTube channels like YT Study, only ias, Study IQ etc. For computer, I relied on Lucent’s book and online videos.
#For mains examination, I solved all the previous years question papers and focussed extensively on those areas from questions are being repeatedly asked. Apart from notes, I also referred following books for my reference:
(1) Constitution- V.N. Shukla and J.N. Pandey
(2) CPC- C.K. Takwani
(3) TPA- R.K. Sinha
(4) Contract and SRA- Avtar Singh
(5) Limitation Act- Bare act
(6) IPC- Ratan Lal and Dhiraj Lal
(7) CrPC- Kelkar
(8) Evidence- Avtar Singh and Batuk Lal
(9) Negotiable Instruments, M.P. Accommodation and M.P. Land Revenue Code- Bare acts.
For article writing, I relied on the Hindu newspaper and online resources, however for translation paper, I referred barects of diglot edition and previous years papers.
For judgment writing, I relied on class notes provided by my coaching institute and books like K.K. Bharadwaj and P.V. Namjoshi.
Coming to motivation part, my desire to achieve the goal and the constant support and encouragement given by my mentor Rajesh Sharma sir, my family and friends have always inspired me to do something better.
- What advice would you give to our friends currently aspiring for judicial services?
I would like to suggest all the aspirants to be focused and consistent in their preparations and the most important, be patient with yourself. Also, I believe that self motivation and optimism are two key factors which every aspirant should strive to achieve.
- What is the influence of moot courts, research papers and seminars on preparation and how have they been helpful to you?
Okay, so participating in moot courts, seminars and conferences has developed critical and analytical thinking in my mind which has helped me a lot during my preparation whenever I came across with practical problems. Furthermore, writing articles on contemporary issues has helped in essay writing paper, so I believe that during your law school journey, you should encourage your participation in these activities which would not help only in building your CV but also in improving your research skills, putting arguments in a effective and logical manner and crafting your personality.
- Have your college, teachers and peer group contributed to this achievement? How?
Yes, indeed. My college has introduced me with the best faculty members and provided me the platform to develop my personality and the way to study law subjects in a comprehensive manner. My parents, teachers and peer group have always motivated me and stood with me during all my ups and downs so their support was immense.
7.What is your take on the current system of judicial service examinations?
Each state has its own pattern and syllabus which is really providing rigorous competition. It helps in creating better judges for better administration of justice.
- Please let us know if there is anything else you want to share with us.
At last, I would like to quote Michelle Obama for aspirants’ reference: “The only limit to the height of your achievements is the reach of your dreams and your willingness to work hard for them”.
All the best!! 🙂
