Interview of Ms. Srishti Bharti, M.P.J.S 2017, (First Attempt).

• Congratulations for your achievement Srishti. Kindly accept heartiest felicitations on behalf of the team of Judgesaab and all our readers and users. Could you please introduce yourself?

Thank you so much. I am Srishti Bharti, currently posted as Judicial Magistrate in Khurai, Sagar, Madhya Pradesh. I completed my B.A.LL.B. (Hons.) from Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law, Punjab in the year 2016, and I cleared Madhya Pradesh Judiciary Services Examination in the year 2017 itself. 

• What motivated you to choose judicial services as your career option?

I have a small anecdote in this regard. While I was in the sixth standard, I visited the High Court. Incidentally, the person sitting across the bench was the Chief Justice of the High Court at that time. The aura and position of the judge left a lasting impression on my young mind. I was intrigued by the fact that a person can make a use of one’s quality of indifference in such an impressive manner to the extent of solving all the problems of the ordinary people. That motivated me to do something in this regard, and that is when I decided to be a judge myself.

• Can you please tell us how your experience at the law school was? What role did the curriculum at your college play in your achievement and how it nurtured your zeal to go for judiciary examination?

My experience at law school was quite beneficial for my Judiciary attempt. The law school molded me in many ways. Because of the curriculum that the Law school provided, I did not study that much in the initial years of my academic curriculum for judicial examinations. I felt a need to pay extra attention to the studies only during the 4^th and 5^th years of my graduation. The course structure and the subjects of the University again helped me a lot in this. I took constitutional law as a specialisation which was a massive help as it enabled me to study and analyse the statutes efficiently. It taught me how to examine them and how to interpret them. That really helped me while attempting the M.P Mains examination.

• How did you strategize your preparation for the preliminary and mains examination of M.P. Judicial Services?

 I think revision and repetition is the key. Apparently, that was my strategy as well. As many times you revise and redo a subject, you get a command over it. I had set timings during the preparation of the preliminary examination. I used to solve at least three to four previous-year question papers per day. I used to give one hour definitely for the revision of any particular subject. For instance, If one day, I used to do the Partnership Act, the next day, I would do the Contract Act followed by the Civil Procedure Code. I used to keep aside an hour or so daily for revising any subject. For Mains, essentially what I did was, I used to solve previous year question papers along with daily one-hour revision, covering some topics of every subject.

• Can you share the list of books and other materials that you went through while preparing for M.P. Judicial Services?

 For preliminary exam, I got the book of Singhal’s for past year question papers for all subjects. Apart from it, I referred to the books of Universal and A.K Jain for multiple-choice questions. For Mains, I referred to the several smaller books of CLA series which covered all the subjects, and just went through the questions that were asked. But studying and analysing the previous year question papers proved to be quite essential. Apart from this, the notes which I prepared while studying for mains played a significant role in my preparation. I made those comprehensive notes by referring to a lot of books. Then, I did not need to read those books at the time of the preparation for the mains.

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

Revision and Repetition is the golden rule. You should photocopy the index of the bare act and then keep on reading that index many a time. Read the head notes of the section, and in front of the head notes, you can write, let us say, five essentials in that particular section. So, while going through the index, you get a general idea of the entire bare act in your hand. You need not go through a bare act again and again once you have made a comprehensive index.

• Do you suggest that preparation for preliminary and mains examination should be done separately or should be done collectively for the judicial examination as a whole?

When you would start studying for the judicial examination, you would have to go through all the subjects. At that point of time, you should not differentiate between the preparation for prelims and the mains. The subjects should be studied comprehensively as a whole covering the entire concepts, case laws and sections. Then just one month before the preliminary examination you should start focusing only on prelims. During that time, you should solve multiple questions and should only go through the bare acts. As I said earlier, one should only go through the indices during that time and not the vast commentaries. But for mains, if you have adequately studied before the prelims and you have made comprehensive notes, then you need not go through the commentaries at that point of time as well. For MPJS specifically, you must go through previous year question papers, especially for prelims. Till date, almost half of the questions in the examination are based on the questions covered in the previous year question papers.

• During the preparation, a candidate might go through self-doubt due to the stiff competition around him/her. How did you handle such a negative situation? What are your views regarding the removal of this self-doubt?

I never had any kind of self-doubt during the entire period of preparation. My family and my friends always supported me in this regard. No one ever questioned my capabilities, and I also had a belief in myself. The main reason behind such confidence of mine was my positive attitude. If you do everything with a positive mindset, then certainly those things would actualize. Never think about giving a second chance to anything. Just go with full force after whatever you have set your eyes upon thinking that nothing else is there.

• What were your favourite hobbies during the entire time of preparation for MPJS?

I listened to music and I used to go cycling. I kept an hour or so daily for refreshing myself. I used to go out with my friends to refresh myself. That remarkably prevented any kind of stress from getting through my mind.

• There is a stage of six months for preparation. What was your daily motivation to get your goals going like your bare acts to be done, your revision to be done? What was the primary inspiration which inspired you?

It was always my dream to become a judge. It obviously motivated me. I did not need any external figure for it. But, my mother was surely a constant source of inspiration for me because she was the one who wanted me to be a judge. Unfortunately, she passed away while I was preparing for the examination. I did not let it act as a constraint for me. Instead, it motivated me further to fulfill my mother’s dream.

• 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?

The candidate should boost up his personality. As at the stage of the interview, they have already tested your knowledge of law. Now, they need to test one’s personality. They check how you answer the questions. They observe your disposition, your mannerism and the way you speak. They will bombard you with questions to check whether you can deal with such a situation or not because if you succeed in handling it, then you can control a court as well.

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

If the candidate knows the answer, he should give it confidently. If he does not know the answer, then he should not beat around the bush trying to convince the other person. He should simply apologise and state the fact that he does not know the answer. There is no point in aggravating the judge to the extent that he forces you to come up with an answer. The interviewer becomes adamant only when you go beating around the bush.

• You have already achieved your primary target of becoming a judge, but the long-term target in your career is yet far. What is that drives you forward now? 

I have just taken the first step. A lot more needs to be done ahead. You get a reality check while sitting in the court. When the parties come up with their problems then only you come across the ongoing issues and situations in the country. This motivates you to push your boundaries and perform even better, doing real justice. Justice is still a far-fetched dream for common people. I hope that I would be able to achieve that for them.

• Lastly, the whole team of Judgesaab would like to congratulate you on your tremendous success despite the obstacles and hard comings that you faced while preparation.

Thank you so much. This initiative of Judgesaab of conducting the interviews with the toppers of judicial services for the benefit of the judiciary aspirants is praiseworthy. I hope that our experience would be able to help the aspirants to achieve their dream of becoming a judge as well.