As I indicated in my previous post, I'd be doing a subject-specific series on how to tackle each subject for the judicial services examination. Assuming you have adapted well to the schedule I proposed therein, I will deal with evidence today. Though most of the steps remain the same, there are some additional/different things you need to do to get the best of your evidence-law study. For ease of reading, I will enlist both, the steps already mentioned in my previous post and also the additional, evidence-specific steps. The instructions remain the same: complete one step, and then come back for the next step. Just one step at a time. Eazy Peezy, right? Once you complete all the steps, do what the last step says: repeat! So, let's begin, shall we?
- Pick up the bare Act and read it from the beginning to end. This shouldn't be tough considering evidence Act is fairly short in length although it contains an ocean of things when it comes to its application but that's a discussion for another day. Don't care too much about the length. Assign a definite number for hours each day and read it for those hours. If things get boring, take a break, pick another subject, but come back to the Evidence bare Act.
- Illustrations are extremely important. please do not skip them.
- As you get done with the sections, try to segregate sections specifically pertaining to a .criminal trial and that to a civil suit. You could colour code them or make a quick reference-list in the index section. When you will attempt answer-writing in the mains, if it looks like a section from this Act has a role to play in your answer pertaining to CPC or CrPC, you can mention that section. It will definitely give more weight to your answer. I think I write this in every post and I will reiterate here as well. Section numbers are important, pay equal attention to them.
- Pick up either class notes of your coaching, or a book like Dr. Avtar Singh's. Read it patiently. Pay attention to the Sections that seem important. You will notice that the book does not elaborate on each and every Section and that's alright.
- Keep making a list of terminologies like 'last seen together theory' or 'res gestae''. Mention them next to the section they pertain to, in the Bare Act itself.
- Do two more readings of THE WHOLE Bare Act.
- Now pick up past year papers of all the States irrespective of whichever State you're aiming for. Some I've clubbed together here, will include more in due time. Take the Pre Papers, find CPC MCQs and attempt them. How many did you get right? Jot down your score somewhere. How many seemed unfamiliar?
- Now pick up Mains Question Papers of all the states and just give the questions a read. You will notice that unlike Pre, the Mains Paper only focuses on the broader areas. Mark the Sections that have been asked in mains. Make a dot next to a provision in your Bare Act (I preferred doing it in the index section) everytime you encounter a question relating to that provision. Once you're done, you'll notice that some sections have way more dots than others. Make sure you make extensive notes on these in Step 8 vis-a-vis the depth of questions you've seen are asked in the mains question papers you've just analysed.
- Give the Bare Act another read. Things will start seeming much familiar now that you've attempted some MCQs.
- Give the book/class-notes another read along-with the Bare Act and make your own notes. Also include the case-laws that you encountered in Step 5 while attempting Pre Question Papers, under the relevant Section/Order.
- Some case-laws are very important in evidence law. They have been asked alot of times and will be asked again. Even if your material does not mention the facts of a case you are reading, if it is a landmark case, google it and read the facts. Most cases have very, very interesting facts and reading the findings along-with the facts will ensure that you will not forget the case and its findings only after a single read. That is what happened with me. I didn't have to study any evidence law case twice to remember it. As the facts were like a scene from a crime-thriller, the story and the findings have been engraved in my head. What you will struggle with initially is connecting the case-details with its name. That may take some time and will only go with multiple reads or if you somehow visualise the case-name in that crime-thriller plot you have just imagined in your head. Another trick could be to use mnemonics. With time you will need neither to recall the case.
- Pick up MCQs and attempt them again. Have you improved? Where are you lacking?
- If you are dubious about your answer writing skills, attempt mains questions by actually writing the answers on a sheet of paper. You may compare them to the samples I keep sharing on the blog (Like here). If you are fairly confident with your answer writing skills, mentally attempt all the mains questions of every state. There are so many, you'll never get done with all.
- Read the Bare Act with the notes you made from now on. Refer to your material when you have a doubt understanding some topic, or you encounter a question that you cannot answer from your notes and the Bare Act.
- WOW! So many reading already! You must already feel like a pro. But don't stop here. Aim for perfection. Repeat Steps 11, 9, and 10; in that order till the D-day arrives. Good luck!
-Smriti Tripathi
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