AP High Court Examiner cheat sheet

Subject-verb agreement: a singular subject takes a singular verb; intervening phrases ("along with", "as well as") do not change the number of the subject.

"Neither...nor" and "either...or" take a verb agreeing with the nearer subject: "Neither the clerks nor the judge was present."

Dangling modifier rule: an introductory participial phrase must modify the grammatical subject of the main clause; otherwise rewrite the sentence.

Active voice formula: subject + verb + object. Passive: object + form of "be" + past participle + "by" + agent; prefer active in official correspondence.

Direct to indirect speech: shift tense back one step, change pronouns to third person, and convert "today/yesterday" to "that day/the previous day".

Commonly confused pairs: "affect" (verb) vs "effect" (noun); "principal" (chief/sum) vs "principle" (rule); "stationary" (fixed) vs "stationery" (writing material).

Comprehension strategy: locate the topic sentence, then match each question stem to a specific sentence rather than to outside knowledge.

One-word substitutions tested in court exams: "in camera" (in private), "suo motu" (on its own motion), "prima facie" (on first appearance), "ex parte" (one side absent).

Constitutional office order of precedence: President, Vice-President, Prime Minister, Governors, Chief Justice of India, Speaker of Lok Sabha.

National legal institutions: Supreme Court (New Delhi), Law Commission of India (advisory body), NALSA (legal aid), BCI (Bar Council of India, regulates legal education).

Key dates: Constitution adopted 26 November 1949; came into force 26 January 1950; Republic Day parade at Kartavya Path.

Indian judiciary strength: Supreme Court sanctioned strength is 34 judges including the Chief Justice; High Court strength varies by Presidential order.

Current-affairs anchors: Union Budget presented on 1 February; Economic Survey tabled a day earlier; RBI monetary policy announced six times a year.

International bodies relevant to law: ICJ at The Hague, ICC at The Hague, UN principal organs number six, India is a founding UN member.

Flagship schemes often asked: MGNREGA (rural employment guarantee), Ayushman Bharat (health cover), e-Courts Phase III (judiciary digitisation).

Awards and honours: Bharat Ratna (highest civilian), Padma awards announced on Republic Day, Jnanpith for literature.

Percentage change = (new − old)/old × 100; successive changes of a% then b% equal a + b + ab/100.

Simple interest = P × R × T / 100; Compound interest = P[(1 + R/100)^T − 1].

Profit/loss: SP = CP × (100 ± gain or loss%)/100; discount is always calculated on marked price.

Time-speed-distance: distance = speed × time; to convert km/h to m/s multiply by 5/18.

Average = sum of observations / number of observations; if every item increases by k, the average increases by k.

Ratio and proportion: if a:b = c:d then ad = bc; partnership profit shares are proportional to capital × time.

Permutation and combination: nPr = n!/(n−r)!; nCr = n!/[r!(n−r)!]; nC0 = nCn = 1.

Number series and simplification: apply BODMAS strictly (brackets, orders, division, multiplication, addition, subtraction).

Coding-decoding: identify the shift pattern (forward/backward, positional value, reversal) from two or three given examples before applying it.

Blood relations: draw a family tree; vertical line = parent-child, horizontal line = spouse, and mark gender symbols explicitly.

Syllogism: use Venn diagrams; a conclusion follows only if it is true in every possible diagram of the premises.

Direction sense: net displacement is found by summing north-south and east-west components separately, then applying Pythagoras.

Seating arrangement: fix the most constrained person first, then place others relative to that anchor; "facing north" reverses left/right.

Series completion: check differences, then ratios, then squares/cubes, then alternating patterns in that order.

Analogy and classification: state the relationship in words ("part to whole", "worker to tool") before choosing the option.

Clock and calendar: angle between hands = |30H − 5.5M|; odd days repeat every 400 years giving 0 odd days.

Shortcuts: Ctrl+C copy, Ctrl+X cut, Ctrl+V paste, Ctrl+Z undo, Ctrl+Y redo, Ctrl+S save, Ctrl+P print, Ctrl+F find.

MS Word: Ctrl+E centre, Ctrl+J justify, Ctrl+Enter page break; mail merge uses a main document plus a data source.

MS Excel: a cell reference like $A$1 is absolute, A1 relative, $A1 mixed; formulas begin with "="; SUM, AVERAGE, IF, VLOOKUP are common functions.

MS PowerPoint: F5 starts the slideshow from the beginning, Shift+F5 from the current slide; .pptx is the default format.

Computer fundamentals: 1 byte = 8 bits; 1 KB = 1024 bytes; RAM is volatile, ROM is non-volatile; cache is faster than RAM.

Internet basics: HTTP/HTTPS are protocols, URL identifies a resource, email needs a valid address format user@domain.

File management: extensions identify type (.docx, .xlsx, .pdf); "Save As" changes format or location, "Save" overwrites.

Security: a strong password mixes cases, digits and symbols; phishing is fraudulent email seeking credentials; antivirus signatures need updating.

Article 12 defines "State"; Article 13 makes laws inconsistent with Fundamental Rights void; Article 32 is the right to constitutional remedies.

Fundamental Rights run from Articles 12 to 35; Part IV Directive Principles from Articles 36 to 51 are non-justiciable.

Writ jurisdiction: High Court under Article 226 (wider, includes legal rights); Supreme Court under Article 32 (only Fundamental Rights).

Judiciary: Article 214 establishes High Courts; Article 217 covers appointment of High Court judges; retirement age is 62 for High Court judges.

Emergency provisions: Article 352 national, 356 President's rule in a State, 360 financial emergency.

Amendment procedure under Article 368: special majority in both Houses; federal provisions also need ratification by half the States.

Fundamental Duties: Article 51A, ten duties added by the 42nd Amendment on the recommendation of the Swaran Singh Committee.

Citizenship: Part II, Articles 5 to 11; Parliament has power to regulate citizenship under Article 11; single citizenship prevails.

CPC 1908: Section 9 gives civil courts jurisdiction over suits of a civil nature unless expressly barred; Section 15 requires filing where the cause of action arises.

CPC pleadings: Order VI covers pleadings, Order VII plaint, Order VIII written statement; Order XXXIX deals with temporary injunctions.

CrPC/Criminal procedure: FIR under Section 154 CrPC (now Section 173 BNSS); investigation, charge sheet, cognizance, and trial follow in that order.

Bailable vs non-bailable: in bailable offences bail is a matter of right; in non-bailable it is discretionary with the court.

Limitation Act 1963: suit for recovery of money is generally within three years from when the cause of action arises.

Evidence: burden of proof lies on the party who asserts a fact; documentary evidence is primary unless secondary is permitted by law.

Court practice: a plaint must contain parties, cause of action, jurisdiction, valuation and relief sought; deficit court fee causes rejection.

Affidavit and verification: pleadings must be verified and supported by affidavit where required; false verification attracts consequences under the CPC.

Filing sequence: receipt of paper → scrutiny → stamping/registration in the inward register → diarisation with a unique number → placement before the bench.

Classification of records: A-series (permanent, never destroyed), B-series (retained for a fixed long period), C-series (temporary, destroyed after a short period).

Register types in a court office: inward/outward register, dispatch register, stationery register, stock register, and the process-fee register.

Weeding out: records are destroyed only after expiry of the prescribed retention period and with written sanction of the competent authority.

Indexing: case files are indexed by case number, year, party names and section; the index is placed at the top of the file for retrieval.

Movement of files: every movement is recorded in a movement register with date, recipient and purpose; files never leave without an entry.

Court fee and process fee: court fee stamps are affixed on the plaint; process fee covers service of summons and is accounted in a separate register.

Confidentiality: pending case files are not disclosed to third parties; certified copies are issued only on written application and payment of copying charges.