Andhra Pradesh High Court Civil Judge (Junior Division) Recruitment 2026 – 119 Posts (96 Direct + 23 by Transfer) | Apply Online by 26 Oct

High Court of Andhra Pradesh – Civil Judge (Junior Division) Recruitment 2026

The High Court of Andhra Pradesh at Amaravati has issued Notification No. 118/2026-RC dated 25.09.2026 inviting online applications for recruitment of 119 posts for Civil Judge (Junior Division) in the Andhra Pradesh State Judicial Service, comprising 96 vacancies under Direct Recruitment and 23 vacancies under Recruitment by Transfer. The recruitment process shall be governed by the Andhra Pradesh State Judicial (Service & Cadre) Rules, 2026.

Important Dates & Pay Scale

Vacancy Position – Direct Recruitment (96 Posts)

Out of the 39 Open Competition posts, 13 are reserved for women and 4 posts are reserved horizontally for benchmark disabilities – (1) Blindness or Low Vision; (2) Deaf and Hard of Hearing; (3) Locomotor disability including cerebral palsy, leprosy cured, dwarfism, acid attack victims and muscular dystrophy; and (4) Autism, Intellectual disability, Mental illness and multiple disabilities.

Recruitment by Transfer (23 Posts)

23 posts are earmarked for Recruitment by Transfer from eligible serving officers of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh, District Judiciary, Prosecution Services, Law Department of the Secretariat and the Legislature Department.

Qualifications

A) Direct Recruitment

• All Law graduates who have obtained the Law Degree preceding one year as on the date of Notification are eligible to appear for the Civil Judge (Junior Division) Notification issued for the year 2026. [As per the judgment in Bhumika Trust v. Union of India & others, W.P.(C) No. 1110/2025, dated 21.08.2026 of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India, and pending amendments to the A.P. State Judicial (Service and Cadre) Rules, 2026.]
• The applicant must be of good character and free from any infirmity rendering him/her unfit for appointment.
• Not eligible if: not a citizen of India; dismissed/removed/compulsorily retired from Judicial Service or any Government/Statutory/Local Authority service; convicted of an offence involving moral turpitude; permanently debarred or disqualified by the High Court / UPSC / any State PSC from appearing for examinations or selections; directly or indirectly influences the recruitment authority; has more than one wife living; a woman who marries knowing the person has a wife living; arrested in connection with any crime involving moral turpitude and concerned with the same; has committed copying or misconduct during the Screening Test / Written Examination, been convicted in a criminal case, or been compulsorily retired, removed or dismissed from Judicial Service or any other service, or failed to complete probation; or is an officer found to be of doubtful integrity in any year.
• Direct Recruitment means appointment of a person who is not in the service of the Government of India / State.

B) Recruitment by Transfer

• Applicants must possess a Degree in Law awarded by any University established by Law in India and must be a confirmed member or approved probationer in any one of the eligible categories: officers of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh (Section Officers, Court Officers, Scrutiny Officers, Accounts Officers, Court Masters, Personal Secretaries to Hon’ble Judges / Registrars, Deputy Section Officers and Translators, Senior System Officers, Overseer, Assistant Section Officers, Computer Operators, Assistant Librarians, U.D. Stenographers, System Officers, Assistants, Examiners, Assistant Overseer, Typists and Copyists); officers in the District Judiciary (Chief Administrative Officers, Senior Superintendents, Superintendents, Stenographers Grade-I, II & III, Senior Assistants, Junior Assistants and Typists); Prosecution Services (Assistant Public Prosecutors, Senior Assistant Public Prosecutors, Additional Public Prosecutors Grade-II); Section Officers in the Law Department of the Secretariat; and Section Officers in the Legislature Department.
• The person must maintain good character and conduct and must not fall within the disqualifications listed for Direct Recruitment.
• No person facing disciplinary charges, who has undergone any punishment, or is in subsisting punishment for any irregularity in discharge of duties, is eligible for appointment by recruitment by transfer.

Age Limit

• Direct Recruitment: applicant must not complete 35 years of age as on 01.09.2026 (first day of the month ofNotification). Relaxable by 5 years for SC, ST, BC and EWS, and by 10 years for Persons with Benchmark Disabilities.
• Period of service rendered in the Defence services by an otherwise qualified and suitable applicant shall be excluded in computing age for direct recruitment.
• Recruitment by Transfer: applicant must not complete 48 years of age as on 01.09.2026.

Reservation

Vertical reservation for Backward Classes (A, B, C, D & E), EWS, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, and horizontal reservation for Women and Persons with Benchmark Disabilities, shall be as per the A.P. State Judicial (Service & Cadre) Rules, 2026 read with amended Rules 22 and 22-A of the A.P. State and Subordinate Service Rules, 1996 (G.O.Ms.No.77, General Administration (Services-D) Department, dated 02.08.2023). Applicants claiming BC/SC/ST/EWS/PwBD reservation must choose the applicable category and enclose the necessary certificate(s), including a latest Non-Creamy Layer certificate for BC (A, B, C, D & E) applicants issued in 2025 or 2026, with family income below Rs. 8,00,000/-.

Application & Examination Fee

The fee must be remitted/paid online and is non-refundable, even if the application is rejected for any reason or the Notification is cancelled. Only applicants belonging to a community recognised as SC/ST in the State of Andhra Pradesh are entitled to the concessional fee of Rs. 750/-.

Selection Process

• Computer-based Screening Test followed by written examination and Viva Voce, as per the A.P. State Judicial (Service and Cadre) Rules, 2026.
• Screening Test centres: Guntur, Kurnool, Rajahmundry (Rajamahendravaram), Tirupati, Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam. Applicants must opt for any three (3) centres in order of preference. The High Court reserves the right to allot any centre or to abolish/create a centre for administrative reasons; requests for change of centre will not be entertained. Details of examination centres will be posted on https://aphc.gov.in.
• On declaration of the Screening Test result, the written examination will be held at a venue to be specified by the High Court.
• No T.A. and D.A. will be paid to candidates appearing for the Screening Test / Written Examination / Viva Voce.

General Instructions

• The High Court reserves the right to increase or decrease the number of vacancies or cancel the Notification at any stage without assigning any reason; no right accrues to any candidate by virtue of the Notification.
• Selection against the BC-E vacancy will be subject to the outcome of Civil Appeal Nos. 2628-2637/2010 pending before the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India.
• Merely applying gives no right to be considered for appointment. A person in a bigamous marriage is not eligible.
• Once documents are uploaded and the application is submitted, the candidate shall not under any circumstances be permitted to edit options or replace the documents.
• Correspondence will not be entertained by the High Court under any circumstances. Incomplete/incorrect applications will be summarily rejected.
• Candidates should regularly visit the High Court website https://aphc.gov.in to keep abreast of all related notifications until the completion of the recruitment; no separate information will be provided in any other mode.