Orissa High Court District Judge Recruitment 2026: 38 Posts, Odia and 7 Years at the Bar

Orissa High Court District Judge Recruitment 2026 fills 38 posts by direct recruitment under Advertisement No. 03 of 2026. The online form runs from 10:00 AM on 9 November 2026 to 11:59 PM on 25 November 2026. You need a law degree. Advocates qualify after seven years of continuous practice at the Bar, and former or serving judges can count Bar and bench years together. Applicants must be aged 35 to 45 when they submit the form, with relaxations described below. You must also speak, read and write Odia. Selection is by three written papers and an interview.

13 of the 38 Orissa High Court District Judge Recruitment 2026 posts are reserved for women

The 38 posts are split by category as below (page 1). Women have 13 of them across the four categories.

Three of the 38 posts go to persons with benchmark disabilities who have a physical disability, excluding cerebral palsy. This is a horizontal reservation, so these posts sit inside the category counts above. If not enough women apply in a category, the leftover women’s posts go to men of that category. If SC, ST or SEBC posts stay unfilled, they go to unreserved candidates (page 1). The Court can change the number of posts and can cancel the process at any stage (page 2).

Advocate, ex-judge or serving officer: who counts as eligible under Advt 03/2026

Every candidate needs a law degree from a recognised university or institution. On top of that, you must fit one of these four routes (page 2):

1. an advocate in continuous practice for at least seven years on the date of application
2. an advocate who served earlier in the judicial service, with at least seven years of combined experience as advocate and judicial officer on the date of application
3. a judicial officer who completed seven years of continuous practice as an advocate before joining the judicial service
4. a judicial officer with at least seven years of combined experience as advocate and judicial officer on the date of application

Your years of practice are counted from the date of provisional enrolment or registration with the State Bar Council (page 3). Public Prosecutors may also apply if they meet the qualification, experience and age rules. They must tell their head of office in writing and get a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from their controlling authority (pages 3 and 4).

The 2025 vacancy gap that gives every applicant one more year

You must be at least 35 and not more than 45 years old on the date of application (page 2). The notice gives no fixed calendar date for this.

The notice then gives three relaxations of the upper age limit (page 2):

• One year for everyone. All candidates get one extra year for the 2026 recruitment, because the District Judge vacancies for 2025 could not be advertised.
• Five years for SC, ST, SEBC (non-creamy layer) and women candidates.
• Ten years for persons with benchmark disabilities (PwBD). PwBD candidates who are also SC, ST or SEBC (non-creamy layer) can add both relaxations together (cumulative relaxation).

The notice also says that a person in more than one category gets only one relaxation, the most beneficial one (page 2). We read this as applying apart from the PwBD case above, which the notice makes cumulative. The notice does not say clearly how the one-year relaxation combines with the five-year or ten-year ones. If your age is near a limit, ask the Recruitment Cell before you pay (contact details below).

Odia at Middle English School standard for every Orissa High Court applicant

You must be able to speak, read and write Odia fluently. You must also have passed an Odia language examination equal to the Middle English School standard (pages 2 and 4). The certificate for this Odia test is one of the documents you upload (page 5). The written exam also tests Odia directly, through translation in the English paper.

Training under Rule 30-A, a State Medical Board check, and the Rs 1,44,840 scale

The scale of pay is Rs 1,44,840 to Rs 1,94,660, with dearness allowance (DA, a cost-of-living addition) and other allowances as admissible from time to time (page 2). The notice gives no DA rate or allowance amounts. So we give the scale only and do not estimate the monthly in-hand pay.

New District Judges first undergo training under Rule 30-A and serve probation under Rule 33 of the Orissa Superior Judicial Service and Orissa Judicial Service Rules, 2007 (page 7). The notice does not print the length of either. Before final appointment, selected candidates must be found physically fit by the State Medical Board (page 7).

Civil law, criminal law with the 2023 codes, and a qualifying English paper

The exam has two parts: a written examination and an interview. The written part has three papers of 100 marks each, and each paper lasts two hours (pages 5 to 7).

The Paper 1 group covers these laws: Transfer of Property, Specific Relief, Limitation and Contract. It also has the Odisha land consolidation, estate abolition and land reforms Acts. Motor accident claims, the Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996 and the Commercial Courts Act 2015 complete it.

The Paper 2 group covers the NDPS (narcotics) law, food safety, prevention of corruption and essential commodities. It also has the environment and water pollution laws, the SC/ST atrocities Act, the domestic violence Act, POCSO (child sexual offences) and the juvenile justice Act.

Paper 3 is qualifying only. You need at least 45% in it, but its marks do not go into the final merit list (page 7).

Each of the first three Paper 2 parts names both the old code and its 2023 replacement (page 6), so both are in the syllabus. The notice does not say how the questions will be split between them.

The 1:10 interview call and the 12-mark interview floor

The interview carries 30 marks (page 7). The cut-offs work in three layers:

• Interview call. Candidates are called in the ratio of 1:10 (ten candidates for each post), if they score at least 45% in each written paper and 50% in aggregate. For PwBD candidates the floors are 40% in each paper and 45% in aggregate.
• Interview floor. You must score at least 40% in the interview, which is 12 out of 30. Below that you are not placed in the merit list, whatever your written marks.
• Merit list. It uses the marks of Paper 1, Paper 2 and the interview only. That makes 230 marks in all (100 + 100 + 30, our arithmetic).

In marks, 45% of a 100-mark paper is 45 marks. The notice does not say which papers make up the 50% aggregate for the interview call.

No fee waiver for SEBC or women: who pays the Rs 750

The application fee is Rs 750, paid online through net banking, a bank card or UPI. It is non-refundable and cannot be adjusted against anything else. SC, ST and PwBD candidates are exempt from the fee “at their option” (page 4). The notice does not list a fee exemption for SEBC or women candidates.

‘Daughter of’, not ‘Wife of’: the certificate rules on pages 3 to 5

These certificate rules on pages 3 to 5 decide whether a document is accepted:

• SEBC certificate. It must be an SEBC (non-creamy layer) certificate not more than three years old on 25 November 2026. An OBC certificate is not accepted in its place.
• Women from SC, ST or SEBC. The caste certificate must be by birth, showing “Daughter of”. A certificate by marriage, showing “Wife of”, is not accepted.
• Practice certificate (Annexure-I). It is certified either by the Principal Judicial Officer of your court or by an advocate of that court with at least 10 years’ standing. An advocate’s certificate is then endorsed by the Principal Judicial Officer. For High Court or Supreme Court practice, the Registrar (Judicial) endorses the 10-year advocate’s certificate. That is the Orissa High Court’s Registrar, or the equal officer of the other High Court or the Supreme Court.
• Judicial service certificate (Annexure-II). Serving or former judicial officers get it from the Registrar (Administration) of the Orissa High Court, or the equal officer of their High Court. If you have both Bar and judicial experience, upload both annexures.
• Name and date of birth. Only the name and date of birth in your Matriculation (Class 10) certificate count. A changed name needs a newspaper notice and an Odisha Gazette notification. Even a missing letter or a space counts as a change of name.

The other uploads are your Aadhaar, Matriculation certificate, Odia test certificate and law degree (pages 4 and 5). Add a recent colour photo and your full signature on a white background. Upload a category or disability certificate if it applies, and an NOC or undertaking if you are a government servant. Public Prosecutors also upload the appointment letter showing their date of joining, or the appointment letter together with the notification that shows it.

The notice also lists disqualifications (page 4). These include dismissal from service by a High Court or government, and conviction for an offence involving moral turpitude (a dishonest or immoral act). A permanent debarment by a High Court, UPSC or a State PSC also bars you.

Recruitment Corner to e-Admit Card: the online route for Advt 03/2026

Apply only online (page 8). On the High Court website, open Recruitment Corner, then Examination Portal. Then pick the link for direct recruitment to the District Judge cadre, 2026. Read the advertisement and the separate instructions for filling the online form first. If you submit more than one application, only the one with the higher acknowledgement number counts.

After that, the High Court publishes the list of eligible applicants and the date of each stage on its website. No admit card is sent by post; you download the e-Admit Card. There is no travel allowance for the exam. Missing any stage, including document verification, ends your candidature (pages 8 and 9).

Document verification comes before the interview. Bring your original certificates, Aadhaar and the same photograph you uploaded. Also bring self-attested copies of the online form and the uploaded certificates. Without them you cannot sit the interview (page 8).

For help with the online form, the Recruitment Cell takes calls on 9437498780 and e-mails at ohcrecruitment1948@gmail.com. It answers on working days from 10:30 AM to 4:30 PM, between 9 and 25 November 2026 (page 9).

Three documents to sort out before 25 November 2026

1. Get the Annexure-I practice certificate, with years counted from your provisional enrolment. If a 10-year advocate signs it, it also needs the judicial endorsement.
2. Check your SEBC certificate date, or get a caste certificate by birth if you are a woman from a reserved category.
3. Keep your Odia Middle School standard certificate and Matriculation certificate ready, then submit between 9 November and 25 November 2026.

The J&K and Ladakh High Court District Judge recruitment also asks for seven years of practice, and its form was extended to 15 November 2026. The Andhra Pradesh High Court District Judge recruitment shows how another High Court set its exam. Its filled-in applications are due by 5 PM on 10 November 2026 (extended from 15 October). Other openings in the state are listed under Odisha government jobs. Every court post on this site is under court and judiciary jobs, and degree-level posts under jobs for graduates.

✍️ Published byLokesh Rathore

Lokesh Rathore is a content writer with over 4 years of experience covering Government Jobs, Sarkari Result, Admit Card and Sarkari Yojana. He turns complex official notifications into clear, accurate and easy-to-follow updates for job seekers across India - with every post cross-checked against official government sources.

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