An Interview with Ms. Vinita Kaliya
RJS Rank 2

1. Kudos to your unmatchable achievement Vinita. Kindly accept heartiest felicitations on behalf of the team of Smartkeeda and all our readers and users. Could you please introduce yourself?

Thanks a ton for the gracious wishes and giving me a chance to share my experiences with the zealous aspirants. Yes sure, so I have completed my graduation studies, that is, B.A. LL.B from RGNLU, Patiala and graduated in 2016. I appeared for the Rajasthan Judicial Services Examination, Civil Judge Cadre in 2018 and with god’s grace cleared the same in the first attempt and bagged 2nd rank in the Examination.

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2. What galvanized you to choose judicial services as a career option?

From the very beginning of my law course, I aspired to become a judge in Rajasthan. For this, I pursued graduation in law from National Law School i.e. BALLB, because I was predetermined to join judicial service. Then, during my graduation at RGNUL, I repeatedly interned under different lawyers and judges in courts at different levels rather than interning at the law firms or the corporate houses, which ultimately augmented my interest in the judiciary. From the fourth year of my college, I had started preparing for the judiciary exams particularly for RJS (Rajasthan Judicial Services). I specifically and single-mindedly prepared two-three years for RJS and god willing I cleared RJS only in my first attempt.

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3. What role did the course at RGNUL, Patiala in nurturing your zeal to go for judiciary? How was your experience at the law school?

Great time with friends!! I was very active in the college time. I used to work for the poor kids like through one of the IDIA programs we had. I had also actively participated in the sports competitions and from the very initial days in college used to take part in the legal literacy campaigns organized by my university.

All the experiences were worthy and collectible. It is not possible for me to mention the name of one friend or two since everyone shaped my experience and goal over there. On a special note, I would like to extend gratitude and thanks to Manoj Sir for taking the initiative of motivating me to opt for judicial services and further guide me towards the final goal.

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4. Distractions and failures being the indispensible weeds in the preparation process, can you please share with the aspiring candidates, some strategies and tips to stay focused in the hard times?

Yes, surely! Firstly, never get demotivated seeing someone else’s preparation. During the preparation, one will find many students who would know a lot, seeing them one should never get demotivated. For instance, specifically talking about RJS, as per the requirement of previous years’ exam pattern, a candidate who has been appearing since before will know all the sections of the bare act on tips, one should never get demotivated seeing them. All that one has to do is focus on one’s own preparation and have confidence in one’s own self. The key is that one should see nothing but the center of the bird’s eye, then one can surely be a master without peer.

Secondly, having said that confidence is important, it is only consistency which will build confidence. So, stay with the group of positive people only. Hold discussions with them, it will enhance your our knowledge as well as boost up the confidence.

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5. How did you strategize your preparation for Rajasthan Judicial Services Examination, as in both for the Preliminary and the Mains Exam?

For RJS, from the very beginning, I had started preparing for the Mains Examination, because after we clear our prelims, we only get a time of two months, which is required for the preparation of language subjects and also essay writing etc. Hence, the preparation for both the Preliminary and the Mains Exam shall go hand in hand, since they are not mutually extensive. I had practiced essay writing before my prelims only. Even for the law subjects, I had made all my notes and had taken sufficient number of tests. It was only when the date for prelims was announced, the time duration between the announcement and the exam was 45-50 days, did I started preparing completely for the prelims. I solved as many MCQs as possible, practically from every book I could get hold of.

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6. As you know, this time the syllabus for the RJS Exam has been entirely modified and more number of posts has been announced, how do you think will impact the preparation strategy of the candidates?

Firstly, the Examination for RJS is not like older times now that you mug up the Bare Acts and you will get through. Concept clarity, in the recent times, is indispensible. Also, concept clarity is very important because number of acts has been substantially reduced to just around 15. A thorough understanding of the laws is hence necessary to be able to get through the Exam. The modification of the syllabus and the highly raised number of posts will boost up candidate’s’ confidence and encourage him to take the Exam. This time, the candidate will have to read books, at least with respect to the major laws like IPC, CrPC, CPC etc. as mere reading of bare act will not take him/her anywhere.

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7. As you know this time prelims is going to be very tuff as candidates from other states are also going to appear, what strategy will you suggest for scoring good marks? Memory tricks, if any?

Solve as many MCQs as you can. Not just MCQs given by the coaching institutions but also MCQs from the past years’ RJS papers as well as MCQs from past years’ papers of other state judiciary examination as well. Do some Mock tests to check your preparation. I had solved all of them including Kerala, Tamil Nadu because the major laws in all of them are same. The only difference is in the minor Acts.

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8. What according to you should be the plan of action for the Mains Examination of Rajasthan Judicial Services Examination?

As I have previously mentioned Prelims and Mains Exam don’t require separate preparation, but the latter would need certain additional things to be taken care of. As for the mains paper, firstly mugging up bare act word to word is not necessary rather as said before, conceptual clarity is must. Paper presentation and answer-writing style matters a lot. If you presentation is not up to the mark, you will not be able to get through. For indirect and factual questions, I followed the same style as we used to follow in our law schools and I recommend the same wherein first we write the issue, then the main question, legal preposition, then the law that will be applicable to the present case, and how it will be applicable and then the conclusion.

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9. As you know that revision is the main factor for success in any judiciary exam and as only two months are henceforth left for the exam, what was your revision strategy for mains as the syllabus is huge and very vast?

The more number of times a candidate will revise, the better it will be for him/her because in those two hours, a candidate has to remember and apply all the acts that he had studied. My strategy for revision was that when I first read the laws, I made my notes and rather than reading something new, I used to re-read my own notes again and again. Also, try reading Supreme Court cases and Law Commission Reports as it will be very helpful. Also the same will help in writing the legal essay.

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10. While preparing, a candidate might go through self-doubt when he sees a lot of competition around him. What are your views regarding removing of this self-doubt into which the candidate might fall? How to handle such negative emotions?

See, these negative emotions are quite natural in such exams. I believe, there are only one-two ways of combating them. Firstly, talk to your parents because no one can reenergize you the way they would do. Secondly, start yoga, meditation or the like in the morning. Such things keep the candidate positive throughout the time. I used to follow both of them.

11. What were your favourite hobbies during the entire time of preparing for RJS?

I was working in a full-time job for the entire two years of my preparation. Hence, I got no time for anything else. It always involves some sort of sacrifice.

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12. As after a lot of hard work, a candidate reaches the interview stage and is very anxious about how to clear it. What do you think is the best way to ace the interview?

Firstly, the candidate must revise the entire law syllabus. They usually ask you general things and aim at evaluating you from your confidence which is done by conversing with you. They usually ask the candidate to talk about himself, his college, his city and then the come to law.

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13. If the interviewer becomes adamant at something or at any question, how should the candidate come out of that situation?

Even at the time of my interview, this situation did arise. I just said ‘upto my knowledge, the answer is correct but after this interview, I will go back and verify my knowledge.’ You have to be necessarily humble and exhibit respect to their stand. But at the same time, you have to be humbly firm at your own stand as well.

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14. You have already achieved your primary target but the long-term target in your career is yet far, what is it that drives you forward now?

As we know and as I have observed, especially from my first-hand experience during my internships, the legal literacy and awareness among masses is very low. People are unaware of their rights, of the remedies available and how to avail them. Hence, primarily my drive and focus is to increase the legal awareness among the masses. And also work for initiating legal aid campaigns.

I am being especially from Rajasthan, my passion to try to open up more avenues for the literacy of the girl child education. And also to clear the backlog of the cases which impede our judicial system.

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15. Lastly, we wish you a very successful career and life ahead. We would like to know your reviews for our Smartkeeda initiative wherein we try our best to provide quality and affordable tests for judiciary aspirants.

Thank you so much for your kind wishes. Coming to Smartkeeda initiative, it is a very helpful product for candidates who are doing self-preparation. The evaluation tools that you offer are distinct in their characteristic which no other platform offers. This will be very helpful for the candidates who are preparing by themselves as they will come to know where exactly they stand and on which areas particularly they will have to focus more. Lastly, the price for the series is very affordable which makes it accessible to masses who cannot afford it otherwise.