Gujarat HC cancels exam for civil judges

Gujarat High Court has declared that the preliminary/elimination test conducted on November 1 for recruitment to the cadre of civil judges stands cancelled. The test for all eligible candidates who were issued call letters will be conducted again on January 17, 2010. 

Earlier, the high court had invited online applications for competitive examinations to fill up about 121 vacancies. The candidates appearing for the competitive examination for the cadre of civil judges will now have to clear three tests. This includes the preliminary test, a main test and interview. Sources said that the examination was cancelled as out of four answers for a particular question the correct answer was indicated having smaller front size. Moreover, the high court has also decided that negative marking in the forthcoming examinations would be 0.35 mark instead of 0.50 mark for each wrong answer. 

The civil judge examination this year has created confusion among candidates as the criteria for applying to the admission requires sanad (licenses). However, later it was clarified that candidates have to submit the sanad certificate only during the interview. 

There are more than 3,000 fresh law graduates who have not yet received their sanad certificate. Fresh law graduates who have not received sanad certificate can appear in the test provided they have received the sanad number. Of the 121 vacancies, eight are reserved for scheduled castes (SC), 18 for scheduled tribes (ST), 33 for socially and educationally backward classes, and one post is for physically disabled candidates.