Preparing for Law (Main)

I am grateful to Cyril for his inputs on the post.

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The syllabus for the law (main) is huge and it does require great deal of effort to cover the entire syllabus. Gone are the days when one could cover 75-80% of the syllabus and still secure decent marks. One may keep following points in minds while preparing and answering the law paper:

I. Study Materials

1. Standard Text Books:

I referred to following materials in the course of my preparation:

Constitution: V.N.Shukla (For Admin Law portion refer to S.P.Sathe/articles from journals)
International Law: Starke (for contemporary topics like terrorism which are not mentioned in Starke you can refer also refer to S.K. Kapoor as a supplementary text)
Law of Crimes: Gaur
Contract-Avatar Singh
Torts-Bangia
Recent Legal Developments- Internet and various legal journals like JILI, Supreme Court Journal, etc.

Reading aforementioned books is necessary but not sufficient. These books will not cover the entire syllabus and therefore, you might need to look at other books/articles as well to cover the areas not covered in these books. However, read them well to get the conceptual clarity.

2. Extra Materials:

Constitution

• Constitutionalism: Refer to M.P. Jain and also pub ad material on the same (Mohanty’s printed material has a page or two on constitutionalism)
• PIL; Legal Aid; Legal Services Authority: For PIL refer to the posts on the blog www.lawandotherthings.blogspot.com. For Legal Aid and Legal Services Authority refer to the website of the National Legal Service Authority and also relevant pages from the India Year Book.
• Eminent domain – State property – common property – community property. (V.N.Shukla has a page on eminent domain. Could not find material on State, Common and Community property.)
• Legislative powers, privileges and immunities. Refer to M.P. Jain for detailed analysis of this topic and also read the SC judgment in Raja Ram Pal v The Hon''Ble Speaker, Lok Sabha dated January 10, 2007
• Principles of natural justice – Emerging trends and judicial approach, Delegated legislation and its constitutionality, Judicial review of administrative action: Refer to Sathe on Administrative law. Also look for the relevant articles from JILI, Supreme Court Journal etc.
• Separation of powers and constitutional governance: Read articles from the net.
• Ombudsman: Lokayukta, Lokpal etc.: Refer to the relevant report of the Second Administrative Reform Commission.


- Please read the National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution’s Report (Available on Ministry of Law’s website), the Annual Report of the Supreme Court (Available on the SC’s Website) reports of the Standing Committee of the Parliament on the Law and Justice (Contents of some of which might be available in newspapers and magazines), Law Commission of India’s Report-101, 195, 214 etc.

- Read the complete judgment delivered in some of the landmark cases (Maneka Gandhi, Express Newspaper Ltd, R. Rajgopal, Santosh Bariyar, S.R. Bommai, Raja Ram Pal etc. etc.) You do not have to read all the individual judgments. Just read one of the majority judgments and the head notes for the case.

International Law

In addition to Starke also relied on readings (which were compilation of some excellent articles) from the college days. Some of which are as follows:

• The Identity of International Law: Rosalyn Higgins
• Recognition in Theory and Practice: Ian Brownlie
• Recognition of States, Int’l and Comparative Law Quarterly, Vol. 41, p.473
• Status of Treaties in Domestic Legal Systems: John H. Jackson, The American Journal of International Law, Vol.86, p.310.
• India’s Policy of Recognition of States and Governments: K.P.Mishra, The American Journal of International Law, Vol.55, p.398.
• Int’l Law and the use of force by States: Ian Brownlie, OUP
• The Right of States to Use Armed Forces: Oscar Schachter, Michigan Law Review, Vol.82, Nos. 5 & 6, April/May 1984
• On Prohibition of Force and Self Defense . you can also look at the relevant pages (pp.108-121 and 661-678) from the book The Charter of the United Nations: A Commentary, Ed; Bruno Simma, OUP, New York, 199.
• The Position of the Individual in International Law: Alexander Orkahelashvili, 31 California Western International Law Journal 241.


For topic mentioned below relied a lot on the information from the internet. Please go through the UN website very well to gather information about UN, its organs, reforms, terrorism etc. You can also look at website of the International Criminal Court, for latest developments and also have an idea of the latest issues surrounding some of these international bodies. For example, the question on the International Criminal Court asked in the 2009 Mains, was not entirely legal, but also pertained to the broad theme of international affairs, as very specific questions were asked on functioning of the court, the drawbacks and the amendments to the Regulations. Hence questions are of a very contemporary nature for some of the topics for which the best source is the internet.

• United Nations: Its principal organs, powers, functions and reform.
• Legality of the use of nuclear weapons; ban on testing of nuclear weapons; Nuclear – non proliferation treaty, CTBT. ( For Legality of the use of nuclear weapons, please read ICJ’s judgment in full)
• International terrorism, state sponsored terrorism, hijacking, international criminal court. (FOR ICC, I read two articles which were part of my college reading. Am unable to locate them now. Will put up their citation as soon as I find them)
• New international economic order and monetary law: WTO, TRIPS, GATT, IMF, World Bank.
• Protection and improvement of the human environment: International efforts.
• Fundamental principles of International Humanitarian Law: You can refer to the chapter in Malcolm Shaw.


Law of Crimes


• Kinds of punishment and emerging trends as to abolition of capital punishment: read the related posts on the blog www.lawandotherthings.blogspot.com.
• Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988: Read the Bare Act well.
• Protection of Civil Rights Act 1955 and subsequent legislative developments: Read the Bare Act well.
• Plea bargaining: Cr.P.C amendments incorporating the Plea bargaining provisions in India, Law Commission Report and one or two article on the same from the net.

- You may also have a look at the Law Commission’s 156th Report on the IPC.


Law of Torts

• False Imprisonment: Refer to the Winfield for this topic.
• Consumer Protection Act: Read the Bare Act well and also Bangia’s commentary.


Law of Contracts and Mercantile Law

• E-Contract: From internet.
• Insurance: Did not prepare.
• Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881: Did not prepare.
• Sale of Goods: Bare Act + DU Law Duggi (guide)
• Hire Purchase: Law Commission’s 168th report.
• Formation and dissolution of Partnership: Bare Act + DU Law Duggi (guide) + Law Commission’s 7th report.
• Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996: Bare Act + DU Law Duggi (guide)

- You may also have a look at the Law Commission’s Report on the Contract Act.


Contemporary Legal Developments

• Read mostly from the net. Look at Law Commission’s 200th Report on “Trial by Media”.
• For some of the topics like Competition, Intellectual Property Rights, Right to Information Act, you can refer to some of the important sections of the bare acts.
• Since some of the topics mention that the concepts/types/prospects are being tested, you should be familiar with some of the important concepts, for eg. Polluter pays in environmental law.


II. Studying for the Main


Why it makes sense to cover the entire syllabus

• You must aim to cover almost everything mentioned in the syllabus. UPSC is not sticking to the broad area wise division while clubbing two or more questions into one. For example: There could be three questions of 20 marks each from topics as varied as Plea Bargaining, Negotiable Instruments Act and the Competition Act. The 60 markers in paper II are not single question but always an unusual combination of 2 or 3 questions from IPC/Contract/Recent Legal Developments etc. This makes life very tough because if you don’t prepare for everything, it is likely that you might not be able to answer every part of the question. For example, if you decide to skip negotiable instruments act and sale of goods act, it might just happen that the questions from these areas are asked not as part of a single question but in combination with other areas (say contract/recent legal developments). This can land you in trouble because with your selective preparation you can answer only part of a question and this could happen for more than one question.

• It is unusual on the part of the UPSC to repeat the last year questions the very next year. But it did so for the main 2009. Many of us did not prepare for the topics from which questions had already been asked in the main 2008 (For example indemnity and guarantee, IT Laws etc.). However, to our complete surprise UPSC repeated the questions from these topics in the main 2009 as well. This was surprising considering there were several recently added topics in the syllabus from where they could have asked the questions.

• Preparing an area comprehensively is no guarantee that one would be able to answer all possible questions from that area. In paper I, you might focus more on constitutional law/international law depending on your area of interest but I would still advice you to cover the entire syllabus of both. You might have a genuine interest in the constitutional law and might have studied hard for it, but that is no guarantee that you would be able to answer all the questions. For instance, I prepared well for the constitutional law but in the exam except for the compulsory question, I just answered only 1 question from the constitutional law as opposed to my earlier plan of answering 2 questions from there and 1 from the IL. I would have been in real trouble had I not prepared reasonably well for the IL as well.



III Writing the Main Paper:

Always see yourself as the salesman (of your answers) who is out there to satisfy the toughest customer (i.e. the examiner). Your answers have to be different from the rest and you will have to walk the extra mile to get extra marks from the examiner. You may keep following things in mind while writing the answer:

• Cases and Statutory provisions are a must and you must write them wherever needed. However, you answer should not look like a compilation of case list. Write only the landmark ones and write them in BLOCK CAPITAL so that it does not escape the examiner’s eyes.

• Quote wisely from the Commission/Committee’s (esp. law commission) reports and underline them. For example in the main 2009 there was a question on the fundamental duties. In my answer I mentioned very briefly the recommendations of

Swarn Singh Committee;
The National Commission to review the working of the Constitution; (“NCRW”)
Justice Verma Committee on opertionalisation of Fundamental duties.


• Wherever possible refer to the practices in other legal system (especially that of U.S and U.K.) and show the differences/similarity between them and us

• Write in points for the question which has several parts to it and for every part you have plenty to write. For example the question on recognition and succession last year has many parts to it. I wrote the entire question in points. Remember the Golden rule: write in points whenever you are running short of time.

• Keep yourself updated and mention the recent significant judgments/pending amendment bills etc. etc. in your answer. The Hindu’s legal reporting is quite good and also keep going back to the blog “Law and other Things” for the recent legal developments. Frontline also covers articles on recent level developments, especially those by V.Venkatesan. For example, if there were to be a question on trial by media last year, I would have definitely quoted SC’s judgment in the case of R.K. Anand (NDTV Sting operation) that came just before the main last year.

General Studies (Main) - SOS!

Post By: Tanvi (with inputs from Ashutosh and Cyril)

“I can't change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.”

Jimmy Dean

This quote aptly summarises the approach one should have while studying for the GS (Main) since it is dynamic in nature.This changing pattern is a reflection of the times to come so, the best bet now would be to have conceptual clarity on traditional areas but with an additional thrust and inter linkages with current affairs based knowledge.

We (namely Ashutosh , Cyril and Tanvi) have tried to present certain guidelines in the form of a brief analysis of 2009 GS Mains alongwith recommended books/notes, and the approach to be followed in each section of the syllabus.

Paper-I


1. History of Modern India and Indian Culture:

For Long Answers

( in 2009 GS , 15 x 2 = 30 marks,choice of 2 out of 3, word limit=150 words each)

Recommended Books:

I read only Spectrum’ Modern India. However, I would suggest Bipin Chandra's India's Struggle for Independance as a must read.

A senior recommended a book on Modern Indian History by Sumit Sarkar too, according to him 2009 GS paper picked up quotes from this book.

How to start:

If you are a complete beginner start with NCERT on Modern India by Bipin Chandra.Others who have read History as a subject in graduation can start with Bipin Chandra's book, 'India's Struggle for Independance'.Do read it well , it will give you conceptual clarity, you could then use Spectrum as some sort of notes to be revised just before the exam.

Approach:

Your aim here is a general understanding of Modern Indian History. For this, you need to have clarity on the way the freedom movement evolved,the issues involved,the perspective of national leaders,etc.Then even if the pattern changes you will be able to handle the questions with ease.

For very short answers :

(In GS 2009, 2 x 10 = 20 marks )

Recommended books:

Do take a look at old question papers 'cos sometimes 2 markers from History are asked more than once.You could read a book by Rajiv Khular which has solutions of two markers asked in the previous question papers.For 2 markers a publication by Civil Services Times is referred to by some candidates (its HUGE so make use of it only if you have time)

Approach:

Your focus should be on NAMES of freedom fighters,social movements,legal/social systems,etc which you can filter out from the recommended reads for long answers.

Your focus here is on brevity but without compromising on the important facts.

Changing Pattern :

Many of us were stumped to find two questions on dance and music (10 x 2= 20 marks) in the GS main 2009.We unfortunately focussed on Modern India to the complete exclusion of Indian Culture.

So, do pick up a decent book on Indian Culture(there is one by Spectrum) and familiarize yourself with the art/music/dance/architecture etc…..aspects of the Indian Culture.

2. Geography of India:
(15 x 4 =60 marks + 3 +3 marker relating to food production and national waterways + 2 marker relating to Desert National park can be said to fall under this heading)

Recommended Books:

The two NCERT books of class XI and XII dealing with Physical and Economic geography of India should be referred.You can also read VajiRam’s printed material on the subject.

Approach vis a vis the changing pattern:

Geography should be interlinked with current affairs knowledge weaned from the newspaper and relevant magazines(the names are mentioned later in the article) . This orientation is well illustrated in the question - significance of coastal regions in the development of India.

3. Constitution of India and Indian Polity:

(In 2009 GS Mains, there were no direct questions on Polity especially when you compare it the way it was traditionally handled.Still the questions on changing determinants of voting behaviour,corruption and esp the one on freedom to express one's opinion all 15 markers could be said to broadly fall under this heading. Further there are 2 markers usually related to terminology like Pocket veto which are asked)

Recommended Books:

Complete beginners can start with Political Science class XI NCERT book " Indian Constitution at Work" .You could then refer to Subash.C.Kashyap's books titled "Our constitution" and "Our Parliament or you could get hold of VajiRam’s printed materials on the subject and also Mr. Raveendran’s class notes. They are lucid and very informative. There is a book on Indian Polity by Wizard ,any issue in recent news can be looked up here since its updated every year.And always keep the Bare Act of the Indian Constitution by your side when you are reading these books/notes.

Approach vis a vis the changing pattern:

You should read the newspaper (preferably The Hindu ) well to keep yourself abreast with the latest issues concerning politico-administrative system of the country. You may also have a look at the excellent blog: www.lawandotherthings.blogspot.com

4. Current National Issues and Topics of Social Relevance:

(This is THE MOST IMPORTANT SECTION which witnessed the maximum allocation of marks and has to be read interlinked with Geography,Polity,Social Issues,Economy,etc)

There are seven broad areas that the UPSC has listed under this head. They do give some clue as to the kind of questions that one might expect but it is indeed an uphill task (bordering on impossibility) to prepare comprehensively for several topics under each of these areas. For example, in the main-2009, there were questions on the Domestic Violence Act, Yashpal Committee Recommendations etc. which in my considered opinion does not fall under any of the seven broad areas listed by the UPSC. You could prepare against such eventualities only by preparing as comprehensively as humanly possible.

Recommended Readings:

You can read Vajiram’s and ALS’s class notes, and also Competition Wizard’s special issue for the main for this part of the GS. You could also think of maintaining a separate note book divided into seven parts for each specified area. Read the newspaper and magazines regularly to gather relevant information under each area and file them in your notebook.Revise it before the exam and if you can ,do try and discuss the newspaper/magazine cutouts/notes with another serious CSE aspirant(remember to keep the discussions focussed since its only when you clear the exam can you change the face of the India!)

Following Resources to be referred in the manner given below should help you out :

The Hindu ( a thorough reading with jotting down of important points and taking out relevant cut outs esp of editorials is recommended)

Frontline (very very selective reading , your focus here should be trying to understand fragmented news in a holistic manner)

Any competitive magazine like Pratiyogita Darpan or Civil Services Chronicle(they encapsulate the news for ready reference.Despite their comprehensive coverage they should NOT be considered as a substitute for newspaper reading, also the opinions espoused in their articles should not be blindly aped.Rather,their articles should be used more as a source of factual information to be applied when required)

Yojana and Kurukshetra should be read selectively to understand the various debates surrounding an upcoming legislation like the women's reservation bill or a critical analysis of implementation of an act/schemes like the MNREGA.

Indian Economic Survey should be read only to understand the general growth trajectory of the Indian Economy with special focus on the boxes.

India Year Book, an extttrrrrremely boring book unfortunately has to be referred to know about the various Govermental schemes :P

Paper-II


1. India and the World:

(This is a very important topic and should be read interlinked with India's economic interaction with the world,together these two topics cover almost 50% of the question paper)

Recommended Readings:

You can rely on Vajiram’s and ALS’s class notes. Competition Wizard’s special issue for the main is useful too. For information on Indian Diaspora, one can look at the India Year Book.However to get a background understanding you can also refer to certain issues of Word Focus, especially the Annual Issue which comes out in Nov-Dec, which is on India’s Foreign Policy.

Further here regular reading of newspaper and magazines would be of great help.

Approach:

You should know about any new/landmark bilateral treaty/diplomatic initiative/points of dissent between India and say countries like USA,Russia etc and between India and its neighbouring countries like Bangladesh,China,etc.

2. India’s Economic Interaction with the World:
Recommended Sources :

You could refer Vajiram’s, ALS class notes and The Economic Survey. Also, you could pick up bits of information from Pratiyogta Darpan’s special issue on Economics. For the role and functions of IMF, World Bank, W.T.O, W.I.P.O etc you can get information from the net.Further the Ministry of Commerce website http://commerce.nic.in/ is a useful source for information regarding India’s position on various issues in the WTO, etc. along with India’s Foreign Trade Policy.

Approach:

Here you should know the latest happenings globally say, the recent meltdown, its impact on India and India's response to it.Further the debates/controversies/demands of developing countries in IMF/WTO, World Bank , etc should be read alongwith an analysis of India's Position on the same.

3. Developments in the Field of Science & Technology, IT and Space:

(In 2009 GS there was a deluge of questions from this section which took most candidates by surprise....it covered almost 100 marks which is 33% of paper 2 !)

Recommended Readings:

You could read from Vajiram’s class notes and also from the Competition Wizard’s special issue for the main. However, they were not of much use this time since the questions were very contemporary and pertained to the happenings of last one and half year.

So a thorough reading of newspaper especially the Science and Technology supplement from The Hindu (freely available on the net) alongwith online inputs wherever required is recommended to score well in this section.

There is a Spectrum guide on Science and Technology which can also be referred.

Approach:

Most importantly, non-science background candidates should not get intimidated by this section.Though certain amount of specialized reading is required no one expects you to write like a scientist.Just try to understand the recent technological developments for eg, cloud computing etc along with an analysis of dynamic fields of enquiry like Nanotechnology etc.Further areas of reasearch which are in the form of sub-topics mentioned in the syllabus (robotics, biotechnology, etc.) should be done thoroughly.You should try to understand the concept, the present applications, the future possibilities and limitations/disadvantages surrounding each.

Also try to link current affairs knowledge covered via newspaper to this section for example, the question on Green Fluorescence Protein was asked because it was related to the 2008 Nobel Prize for Chemistry.

Hence, one can also make notes from newspapers and the internet about the latest developments in this field. The sub-topics mentioned in the syllabus can be useful headings while making notes. A little hard-work in this area may actually fetch a lot of marks and may be the difference between clearing the exam, as Science and Technology is one area which requires specialised reading and where one cannot make up an answer.

4. International Affairs and Institutions:
Recommended Readings :

You could rely on Vajiram’s and ALS’s class notes. Competition Wizard’s special issue for the main is useful too.

Approach:

Try to link this section as well to recent issues/controversies/debates covered in the news and extrapolated with online information.

5. Statistical Analysis, Graphs and Diagrams:

(Around 30 marks were asked from this section in 2009. Though it may seem like a tough proposition to people who suffer from mathematics-phobia ,its in reality not difficult at all and to top it, it is extremely scoring!On the other hand, Engineers and Science students get overconfident .... please practise since the questions might be easy but because of time crunch you cant make up formulae on the spot.)

Recommended Readings:

You could solve the old question papers by taking the help of either Vaji Ravi's class notes or by solving questions from the Spectrum’s book on the Statistics.

For Mental Ability try to get Mr.Ashok Kumar Singh's(Meridian Coaching,Mukherjee Nagar) solutions of old questions or you could try R.S.Agarwal's book

Approach:

Practise old question papers.

Answering the GS (Main) Paper

By Ashutosh

1. Finishing on time:

One is very likely to overshoot the time limit in the GS paper. One way to ensure completion of the paper with in time limit is to practice answer writing in exam like situation. I just could not get myself to write test series for the GS. However, I tried my best to follow my Senior Aparna’s advice of time-marks division in the exam. Divide 300 marks by 180 mins and figure out the time you would need for 10/20/30 marker and stick to the time limit. I did so and more or less I was able to finish my paper without overshooting the word limit.

2. Plan it out in Your Mind:

For the main -2009, I had visualized the order in which I would answer the GS paper. However, it is a different matter that the UPSC threw cold waters on all my grand visualization by completely altering the pattern of the question paper. For example, I had decided that I would start with the polity questions and then move on to History, Current Affairs etc. I wanted to start with the part of the syllabus that I was most comfortable with and finish it with the part that I was least comfortable with. But you must be prepared with an alternate plan as well in the event your original plan goes haywire like it went for me the last year.

3. Writing in Points:

There are people who have written their entire GS paper in points (for e.g. Roopa Mishra, IAS Topper-2003) while other have stuck to the paragraph format (For e.g. Shubhra Saxena, IAS Topper-2008). I wrote both in points and paragraph depending on the kind of questions, availability of time and amount of information available with me. It does not make sense to write in points when you have very little to write for an answer. I wrote in points for Economics, India and the World, Geography, Science and Technology and some of the questions from current affairs. For history and polity, I stuck to the paragraph format.

4. Value Addition to the Answers:

I think this holds true for every paper including the Essay. You have to walk the extra mile to draw the examiner’s attention towards your answers. Most of us read the same materials for the examination (which is usually the notes given by the coaching institutes or competitive magazines) and end up writing similar answers. Draw maps/diagrams whenever needed; quote from the government/int’l agencies reports and recommendations; make cross country comparisons etc. etc….( Wish I followed what I am preaching now; the score would have looked much better…:) )