Delhi APP Vacancy 2026: Eligibility, Exam Pattern and Syllabus

On 8 August 2026, the Directorate of Prosecution, Government of NCT of Delhi, notified 265 posts of Assistant Public Prosecutor. The recruitment is conducted by UPSC, and it fills a Group A Gazetted post through direct recruitment, which makes this one of the more significant prosecutorial openings this year.

If you are preparing for APO or ADPO exams, this notification sits close to home. The subjects tested here, the Indian Penal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure, the Evidence Act and their newer counterparts, are the same subjects most of your judiciary preparation is already built around. This post breaks down the vacancies, eligibility, selection process and syllabus so you know exactly what this recruitment asks of you.

The Notification, in Plain Terms

The Delhi APP Vacancy 2026 notification works out the recruitment pattern for Group A Gazetted officers under the Directorate of Prosecution, GNCT of Delhi. UPSC conducts the exam and handles the entire selection process on the department's behalf.

Who Can Apply

The educational bar here is a recognized LL.B. degree from a university recognized by the Bar Council of India. On its own, that is familiar ground. What sets this recruitment apart is the second requirement: at least three years of practice at the Bar, mainly in criminal cases.

Read Also: MP ADPO Revised Exam Date 2026 

This is a real difference from Civil Judge or PCS J exams, where a fresh LL.B. graduate can sit for the exam directly. For Delhi APP, courtroom experience in criminal matters is a precondition, not an advantage. If you cleared your LL.B. a few years ago and have been practicing criminal law since, this recruitment is built for exactly that profile.

On age, the ceiling for unreserved candidates is 35 years. Reserved category candidates get the standard central government relaxation on top of this ceiling.

The notification does not specify the exact date against which age is reckoned, so wait for that detail in the detailed advertisement before you calculate your own eligibility down to the day.

How Selection Works

Selection runs in two stages. The first is a Recruitment Test in objective format, run in English, for 120 minutes, generally worth 300 marks. Standard UPSC negative marking applies here: one third of the marks allotted to a question is deducted for every wrong answer. That makes accuracy, not just speed, the thing that decides how many of those 300 marks you actually keep.

Candidates who qualify the Recruitment Test move to the Interview, or Personality Test. UPSC then prepares the final merit list by combining scores from both stages, as per the commission's own weightage criteria. Since the written stage is purely objective this time, building daily MCQ practice on the core codes early is worth more here than it would be for a descriptive paper.

What the Syllabus Covers

The Delhi APP syllabus draws from substantive criminal law, procedural law, evidence law, constitutional provisions and a set of special enactments. Much of this overlaps directly with what judiciary aspirants are already reading.

Fundamental Criminal Laws

Substantive law is tested through the Indian Penal Code and its replacement, the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, covering offences against the body, property, public peace and the state. Procedural law is tested through the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, with heavy weight on arrest, bail, trial before magistrates and sessions courts, framing of charges, search and seizure, and appeal. Evidence law is tested through the Indian Evidence Act and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, focused on relevance of facts, admissions, confessions, expert evidence, burden of proof and examination of witnesses.

If your judiciary preparation already has you reading the old and new codes side by side for BNS, BNSS and BSA, that same comparative reading carries over directly into this syllabus.

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Constitutional and Administrative Law

This section covers the structure of the Constitution, Fundamental Rights, Directive Principles of State Policy, and judicial remedies through writs, along with how executive, judicial and legislative powers operate within criminal administration. This is standard ground for anyone already preparing the Constitution paper for a judiciary exam.

Special Laws and Local Legislation

Beyond the core codes, the syllabus lists six specific enactments that come up often in prosecutorial work:

•        Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988

•        Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012

•        Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985

•        Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015

•        Information Technology Act, 2000, particularly its cybercrime and digital evidence provisions

•        Probation of Offenders Act, 1958

If POCSO, NDPS or the evidentiary provisions of the IT Act already feature in your special laws revision for judiciary mains, you are not building this part of the syllabus from scratch either.

Applying: What Is Open and What Is Still Pending

Applications go through the UPSC Online Recruitment Application, or ORA, portal. Beyond that, the notification is upfront about what has not been finalised yet: the last date for online fee payment and document upload will be released separately, and the Recruitment Test date will be announced only after the application window closes. The application fee amount itself has not been published in the notification either.

Keep checking upsc.gov.in and upsconline.nic.in directly for these updates rather than relying on secondary sources for the deadline.

Getting Ready for the Recruitment Test

Read the old and new criminal codes together rather than separately. Working through IPC alongside BNS, or CrPC alongside BNSS, makes it easier to spot exactly what changed section by section, instead of learning two parallel systems from scratch.

Case law matters more here than the objective format might suggest. Bail jurisprudence, admissibility of evidence and trial procedure come up often in prosecutorial practice, so a working knowledge of the relevant High Court and Supreme Court precedents helps you eliminate wrong options faster, not just answer theory questions.

Practice objective questions daily. With negative marking in place, speed without accuracy costs you marks rather than earning them, so timed MCQ sets should be a regular part of your routine well before the actual test date.

It also helps to study trial procedure from the prosecutor's side specifically: how a charge sheet is built, how witnesses are examined, how evidence is presented in court. Even in an objective paper, this perspective shapes which answer choices actually hold up.

Finally, keep short revision notes indexed by section, schedule and time limit across every act in the syllabus. The special laws list alone spans six separate statutes, and a scattered set of notes across six acts is harder to revise than one indexed set.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many vacancies are there in the Delhi APP 2026 recruitment?

265 posts of Assistant Public Prosecutor have been notified under the Directorate of Prosecution, GNCT of Delhi.

What is the eligibility qualification for Delhi APP 2026?

A recognized LL.B. degree from a university recognized by the Bar Council of India, along with at least three years of practice at the Bar, mainly in criminal cases.

What is the age limit for Delhi APP 2026?

The maximum age for unreserved candidates is 35 years, with relaxation of 3 years for OBC, 5 years for SC/ST and 10 years for PwBD candidates, as per central government norms.

Who conducts the recruitment for Delhi APP 2026?

The Union Public Service Commission conducts the entire recruitment process on behalf of the Directorate of Prosecution, GNCT of Delhi.

What is the selection process for Delhi APP 2026?

A Recruitment Test in objective format, generally worth 300 marks, followed by an Interview. The final merit list combines scores from both stages.

Is there negative marking in the Delhi APP Recruitment Test?

Yes. One third of the marks allotted to a question is deducted for every wrong answer, following the standard UPSC marking scheme.

What subjects carry the most weight in the written exam?

Criminal laws carry the highest weight: the Indian Penal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure, the Indian Evidence Act, their newer counterparts under BNS, BNSS and BSA, and key special central acts.

When is the last date to apply for Delhi APP 2026?

The notification has not released this date yet. It will be published separately, so check upsc.gov.in or upsconline.nic.in for updates.

Where do I apply for Delhi APP 2026?

Applications are submitted through the UPSC Online Recruitment Application (ORA) portal once the application window opens.

Final Word

Delhi APP 2026 rewards exactly the preparation most APO and judiciary aspirants are already putting in: a sound command over the criminal codes, the evidence law and the special enactments that keep coming up in mains and interview rounds. If your Bar practice has already crossed three years in criminal matters, this is worth adding to your exam calendar alongside your regular APO and judiciary targets.

Nitesh Sir and the Aashayein Judiciary team keep our current affairs coverage and study material updated with openings exactly like this one. Reach out to Aashayein Judiciary for structured judiciary coaching, updated notes and a mock test series built around the same subjects this recruitment tests.