JK High Court District Judge (Entry Level) Recruitment 2026 – Apply Online for 16 Posts

Who is recruiting?: High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh Which posts?: District Judge (Entry Level) How many vacancies?: 16 vacancies Who can apply?: Law graduates with 7 years of practice or combined service experience Application start date: 05.10.2026 Last date: 04.11.2026 Application mode: Online Job location: Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh

The total number of available posts is 16. The category-wise breakdown of vacancies is as follows:

Must be a domicile of UT of Jammu and Kashmir as defined in Rule 3 of Jammu and Kashmir Grant of Domicile Certificate (Procedure) Rules, 2020, or a resident of Union Territory of Ladakh as defined in Clause (4) of the Union Territory of Ladakh Resident Certificate Order, 2021, and a citizen of India as on the last date of filing of application. Must be a practicing advocate in the Courts of Civil and Criminal Jurisdiction having been in actual continuous practice for a period of not less than seven years, or must be an in-service candidate having a combined continuous experience of seven years or more as an Advocate and Judicial as on the last date of receipt of applications. The word Advocate includes Practicing Advocates, Pleaders / Government Pleaders, and Public Prosecutors. Must be proficient in reading and writing Urdu.

Candidates must have attained the age of 35 years and not above the age of 45 years as on the last date of receipt of applications.

The notification does not specify additional allowances beyond the designated pay scale.

The requisite fee of Rs. 1200/- must be deposited through online mode after successful submission of the online application form.

The competitive examination for appointment of District Judges by direct recruitment consists of a written examination and a viva-voce examination. Written Examination: Comprises two papers of two hours duration each. Each paper carries 80 marks and comprises three parts carrying equal number of questions. Candidates must attempt nine questions in each paper, three from each part. Viva-voce Examination: Carries 40 marks. Only candidates obtaining 50% or more marks in the written examination (45% or more for SC/ST and PwBD candidates) will be called for the viva-voce test in the ratio of three candidates for one available vacancy. Candidates must obtain 50% marks out of the 40 marks earmarked for viva-voce (45% for SC/ST and PwBD candidates). Final selection is made on the cumulative grade value obtained in the written examination and viva-voce.

Date of birth certificate (Secondary School / Matric Certificate) Domicile Certificate / Residence Certificate Bachelors Degree in Law Experience certificate issued by the concerned Principal District and Sessions Judge / Registrar Judicial in the format annexed as Annexure-A Experience/service certificate for in-service Judicial Officers as per Annexure-B Reserved Category Certificate (if claiming benefit)

Candidates who applied pursuant to earlier Notification No. 1841 of 2024 dated 08.08.2024 and Notification No. 03 of 2024 dated 05.06.2024, and whose candidature was not rejected, need not apply again. Any wrong or incorrect information furnished by the candidate leads to rejection of candidature at any stage. Submission of application form, documents, and fee after the cut-off date (04.11.2026) is not accepted or entertained. No separate call letters are issued via print/electronic media; notices regarding venues and dates are published on the official website https://www.jkhighcourt.nic.in. No TA/DA is paid for the test or interview. Incomplete applications or applications received after the last date or via unapproved modes are rejected. Candidature of reserved category candidates remains provisional until category certificates are verified by the Appointing Authority. False or fraudu