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Let me explain the factors which are majorly responsible for charm of any government job:-
1] Introduction of LPGs: - Before 1990s we did not have many MNC Culture Jobs.
Most of our fathers were either -
Type 'A' - government servants (10%)
Type 'B' - professionals (CAs/Advocates/Doctors) (10%) OR
Type 'C' - were running businesses/self-employed/agriculturists (70%) [please note that for sake of discussion it includes BPL population].
Economy was also small. Not many could afford luxury of a car or fridge. The Type B and Type C often struggled in shops (who have become much richer through the years now) and looked to lives of Type 'A' people with ambassador and padmini cars. Even Today business or proffesion is not very stable. I am sure we all have heard of any acqutaince whose business has hit rock-bottom due to pandemic. Infact, the EdTech bubble is now starting to burst as educational institutions have reopened. In short, stability and job-security.
2] Access to information :- Before the internet, smartphone & Jio tetrad though there was access to information but still a lot of people did not know simple things like 'how to become an IAS' . Now we have whole NCERTs , NEET and JEE syllabus uploaded on youtube and other websites. Access to education and information has become very very fast and cheap. Also, population was also comparitively low. Today most of indian population is youth and there is scarcity in market. There is job crisis. we all want the best job , best apartment , best partner and best money. Youth are doing anything to get settled in life.
3]Indian Society: Study between 21-23 , Stable Job between 24-26, Marriage between 26-29 , first child between 30-34 and second child between 35-40. That is how indian society works. So, the JEE/IAS/Judiciary syncs perfectly with the demands of indian society. Its a lot tougher to get married later (doubly challenging if you are trying to find a partner of your caste). So, matrimonial value of judiciay is much much higher. In contrast, if you are an advocate then you will have a tough time setting up a practise or even getting married at the right age after that. It maybe a different story if you are in law firm. Often they get someone with similar job profile.
4] Education Industry: Given the huge population of India and the young population, we know that education industry is a big big business. Coachings, Booksellers do promote the hype. Remember till 2012/2013 JEE was a big 'fad' ? Everyone wanted to join Bansal/FIITJEE and become an IITian without assessing their caliber. (Not saying IITs are not a good.One of the best in India). And in ny government exam applications are 20x the actual vacancies. The unsuccessful aspirants having experience often open coaching and teach well. A man has to eat?
5]Social Media: Instagram and youtube shorts are littered with videos like 'Your entry after becoming IAS' . When we are 18-19 our minds are very impressionable. We immediately get swayed away by these posts and talks. Most of these instagram pages are being run by shopkeepers and photocopy people. I know one book seller personally who had set up a state psc group early in 2012 and it has over 30k members now. Whenever he gets a new book , he posts in group.
But yes, it is a stable job with life of isolation (or peace?). There is respect, if you care. There are many other heirarchial politics and other things which can cause stress. You will really write judgments till 10 pm at night.
An insight and comparison with other famous law grad careers like corporate, litigation, academia, etc, will be very helpful
More than 80 percent of the advocates do not know the law themselves and this aggravates the life of an already average judicial officer. They throw random sections and case laws at the trial court judges and make a request that the matter be disposed of on merits.
Please also note that the job of a magistrate requires him/her to be available in the station 24 7 to make sure the so called offenders are produced before him/her within a span of twenty hours. Then, there are the requests for recording a dying declaration at odd hours. At times, when you have a big government hospital close by, you may end up receiving requests even at 11pm in the night.
We often think it is the judiciary that is the reason for delay in disposal of cases. But, that is just one side of a coin. Advocates request adjournments in 90 percent of the matters even when the cases are five years old. Despite knowing the cases to be devoid of merit, advocates file cases only to strike a forced compromise out of the court. Also, they create fake and concocted stories only to delay the proceedings and file random miscellaneous petitions in every second case. If you dispose of such petitions swiftly, they take them up in appeal and delay the proceedings on this pretext for another three months.
You are likely to be perplexed in the first six months because you end up giving adjournments till 11.30 am. Most of the advocates do not argue and file necessary documents unless the matter is atleast four years old. If you insist on completion of trial, they end up taking the pretext of the case being a relatively new one.
Most importantly, you may be asked to make arrangements for the private trips of high court judges whenever they visit a famous place in your station. Be prepared to receive brickbats even if the security officer of visiting high court judge does not get proper food to eat. One of my friends was pulled up for not accommodating a high court judge's security guard in a proper room.
Above all, be prepared to be stationed in towns and enjoy pathetic infrastructure. The building you would sit in would barely be habitable.
Transfer is a rule all the way until you are elevated to HC. From a magistrate to principal district judge. Everyone gets transferred every 2 or max 3 years. This rotation system ensures judges remain impartial and do not become integrated into the place and society where they have to discharge judicial and constitutional duties, you guessed it, with impartiality. Until you are in the DJ cadre, expect to be transferred to any town or city or metro - size is not a criteria. Once in the DJ cadre, you will have postings in the district headquarters. For you and your family, 'transfer is a rule' system can be pretty nasty. Kids will grow up without a fixed set of friends, repeated changes to schools and limited friends outside school in the judges quarters or government colonies. Social life for spouse and kids will be no-where near normal.
There are a few deputation opportunities for non-judicial work that open up after 15-20 years of service. High Courts have huge administrative set up manned by judges drawn from district judiciary. Taking those assignments will land you good promotions if you know it well that HC judges will watch you closely. Of these lot, many end up being caught in 'chaplusi' culture to grow whether like it or not. Another avenue is Law Department of State Government where Law Secretary is usually a senior District Judge. Well, keep in mind that you will be reporting to a political boss - Law Minister - in this and other administratively junior roles. Some can capitalize this well but most will struggle in this type of role after more than two decades doing Judicial work where there is none to boss over you on your judicial work (disgruntled party has to appeal against your judicial order but none should, will or can tell you what to do in any matter). You will get an SUV and massive bungalow when you become the DJ but until then it is a pool car or transport allowance with a relatively large (not necessarily nicer than average) house depending on which state you are in. If you make it to the DJ cadre and have reasonably good reputation for your work, expect post retirement extensions as deputations as Jt. Commissioner of Charities, President of District Consumer Grievance Redressal Forums and other quasi-judicial tribunals or government bodies. That is additional 5 years after retirement from Judiciary. Again, remember you will no longer be part of judiciary and will be in a regular government hierarchy where the ultimate boss is a politician at the state level.
Overall, go for it if you are passionate about being a Judge and being able to make a difference to the personal lives of thousands of people who will come to you expecting justice. Be ready to pay the price: unable to connect well with social fabric of the society for you and family; and some times end up comparing yourself against civil servants who may have to, and will, show a great respect to you when running into you but will be living more lavish lifestyles than you and your family.
As for me - I ended up in an NLU, worked at a law firm and bolted out of India to work elsewhere - something my daddy DJ and mom never thought. Good luck!
I am a Civil Judge myself. Its been around 2 years I am in the service and I pretty much understand the curiosity around lifestyle and pay scale of a judicial officer, work life balance, pros and cons.
Work Life balance
See, the initial 1 year is going to be a bit hectic as you will be learning everything from the scratch. Starting from the functioning of how exactly a court works to how to handle the advocates to handling your court staff, reading hefty files in Hindi, to handling other court administrative work. You will be the master of your court. Everything might feel intimidating at first because you won't be hanging with people your age, you will be ordering people of your fathers age. But once you get hold of such things its a cake walk, trust me. Most of the things are repetitive. So work life balance is a solid 4/5 here.
Stress/Workload
There's stress and there's workload but its all about time management Once your learn that most of the things are doable. I would give it a 3/5 for stress.
Family life/Social life
Family life ain't that great here. I literally have to wait for the weekends to go out, eat junkies and meet my friends and family. I make a list of everything I need so i can go for grocery shopping in the weekend. As a judge you can't socialize a lot with general public. I have been given strict instructions to avoid going to this famous salon near my house and not been caught eating pani puris in public. I am crying while writing this.
This is by far the biggest con of the service. If you are someone who loves to go out and make friends you should consider joining this service.
Job Security
My job comes with great security until and unless you are caught taking bribe. Still better than the corp sec for sure.
Pay
I earn around 1,50,000 a month which is more than enough considering I am posted in a tehsil.
Holiday
15 days vacation (summer+winter)
13 Days CL
3 Days OL
30 Days EL
Protocol
Judiciary has a lot of protocol. Boy, I can have a whole rant session on that but lets leave it. Its strict man, its strict.
Conclusion
You chose your battles buddy. If your priorities are having a stable life, money which comes with a cost of living in a tier 3 city or may be village and you are okay with not socializing a lot. This service is great. Oh one more thing, judiciary gives sooooo much respect man, people salute you and respect you all the times.