CRACKER COMBO for CS Executive – Group 1 | Papers 1 to 4 is a four-volume combo from Taxmann's flagship CRACKER series that covers the entire Group 1 of the ICSI Company Secretary – Executive Programme as one integrated preparation system. It bundles all four Group 1 papers:
- Jurisprudence, Interpretation & General Laws – CRACKER (Paper 1 | JIGL)
- Company Law & Practice – CRACKER (Paper 2 | Company Law)
- Setting Up of Business, Industrial & Labour Laws – CRACKER (Paper 3 | SUBIL)
- Corporate Accounting & Financial Management – CRACKER (Paper 4 | CAFM)
The defining idea is that these are practice manuals, not textbooks. Each volume works by application rather than instruction—it does not simply tell the candidate what the law (or the accounting treatment) is; it shows how to present it under examination conditions. To that end, every book assembles several hundred genuine past-examination questions (the Company Law bank reaches back roughly two decades; the CAFM bank as far back as 1999), regroups them concept-by-concept inside each chapter, tags every question with its session and marks, and follows each one immediately with a complete model answer written in the ICSI 'Suggested Answers' style.
All four papers reward application over rote recall, but the form of that application differs across the set, and the combo reflects this honestly:
- Three papers—JIGL, Company Law and SUBIL—have shifted decisively toward case-study-based assessment. SUBIL's own marks chart identifies case studies as the single highest-weighted area; Company Law's scenario problems now carry the single largest block of marks; and JIGL builds its case-study chapter around the high-mark opening question of the paper. Each of the three answers the shift with a dedicated case-study chapter of integrated, multi-issue fact patterns
- CAFM is application-led in a different way—through end-to-end numerical problem-solving. It carries no case-study chapter; its heaviest weight sits in computational chapters such as Share Capital, Working Capital Management and Capital Budgeting.
Every one of the four closes the same way: with the fully solved June 2026 paper (Suggested Answers), the most recent paper worked in full. The net effect across Group 1 is a uniform plan → practise → revise method that trains a candidate to read a problem, locate the governing provision (or the right formula), apply settled judicial principles, and write a precise, well-cited, marks-fetching answer.
The Present Publication is the June 2026 Edition, authored by CS N.S. Zad, CS Kalyani Shirode, and CS Divya Bajpai, with the following noteworthy features:
- [Comprehensive Solved Question Banks] Hundreds of fully solved past-exam questions per paper (600+ in JIGL alone), reformatted to the latest examination pattern so the answer style matches what the examiner rewards
- [Topic-wise Arrangement up to June 2026] Questions are clustered under the concept they test, then ordered chronologically; recurring questions are consolidated under a single answer with an 'Or', listing every sitting in which they appeared—removing duplication and compressing revision
- [Answers Anchored to Authority] Solutions are pinned to the specific governing sections of the relevant Act/Code and Rules, reinforced with leading judicial precedents, and—where the paper demands—supported by MCA e-Forms and specimen drafting (Company Law) or fully worked numericals (CAFM)
- [Dedicated Case-study Chapters in Three of the Four Papers] JIGL (22 multi-issue fact patterns), Company Law and SUBIL each carry a standalone chapter of comprehension-style, multi-issue problems modelled on the high-mark scenario questions that dominate those papers. CAFM is the exception—it is application-led through fully worked numericals and has no case-study chapter
- [Latest Solved Paper (June 2026)] Every volume ends with the most recent paper worked in full with suggested answers (in JIGL, explicitly cross-referenced to the relevant solved questions elsewhere in the book)
- [Three Strategy-setting Analytical Tools]
- Chapter-wise Marks Distribution (e.g. June 2021 → June 2026; CAFM spans all 11 sessions) with per-chapter averages, so the candidate sees where the marks consistently fall
- Previous Exams Trend Analysis, a question-by-question breakdown tagging each item Practical/Descriptive (and Distinction, uniquely, in SUBIL)—a direct guide to how much problem-solving versus theory to prepare per chapter
- Chapter-wise Comparison with the ICSI Study Material, mapping every chapter to its corresponding study-material chapter for gap-free cross-reference
- [All Examination Question Formats] Short notes, 'distinguish between', practical/case-based problems, and descriptive/explain-discuss-comment questions, each labelled with its session and marks
- [Weightage-aligned Depth] The question bank is deepest precisely in each paper's highest-scoring chapters, so practice tracks the marks
- [Updated for the Latest Laws & Amendments] Deep integration of the new criminal-law trilogy (BNS 2023, BNSS 2023, BSA 2023), the four Labour Codes, the Companies Act 2013 with Rules, and the Companies (Accounting Standards) Rules 2021
The coverage of the Combo is as follows:
Paper 1 — Jurisprudence, Interpretation & General Laws
- Scale & Structure
- 600+ fully solved questions
- Fourteen subject chapters plus a fifteenth case-study chapter (22 multi-issue fact patterns)
- Bank is deepest in the three highest-scoring areas: Crime & its Procedure, Constitution of India, Negotiable Instruments
- New Criminal-law Framework
- Rewritten around the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita 2023, and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam 2023
- These now run through the Crime, Procedure and Evidence chapters
- Concept-level Coverage
- Sources of Law—schools of jurisprudence; sources of Indian law
- Constitution of India—doctrines of severability, eclipse and waiver; the basic-structure principle; writs and constitutional remedies; the legislative lists; delegated legislation
- Interpretation of Statutes—mischief, harmonious and reasonable construction; ejusdem generis, expressio unius est exclusio alterius, contemporanea expositio, noscitur a sociis; the General Clauses Act 1897
- Administrative Law—administrative law and natural justice
- Law of Torts—damnum sine injuria/injuria sine damno; strict and vicarious liability
- Civil Procedure—res judicata, res sub judice, set-off and counter-claim; the Commercial Courts Act 2015
- Evidence—under the BSA 2023
- Limitation—the Limitation Act 1963
- Arbitration, Mediation & Conciliation—including the Arbitration Council of India
- Right to Information—the RTI Act 2005
- Information Technology—the IT Act 2000
- Contract Law—the Indian Contract Act 1872
- Negotiable Instruments—the Negotiable Instruments Act 1881
Paper 2 — Company Law & Practice
- Scale & Structure
- Several hundred solved questions, spanning ~two decades up to June 2026
- Two Parts/twenty chapters (the last of which is a dedicated case-study chapter)
- Built around integrated, scenario-driven problems that now carry the single largest block of marks
- Statutory-and-practical Anchoring
- Draws on well over 150 distinct sections of the Companies Act 2013 and the relevant Rules
- Cites landmark decisions—Salomon v. Salomon, Foss v. Harbottle, Ashbury Railway Carriage v. Riche, Royal British Bank v. Turquand, Daimler v. Continental Tyre, Gilford Motor v. Horne, among others
- References the actual MCA e-Forms—SH-4, AOC-4, MGT-7, MGT-14, DIR-3, ADT-1, CHG-1, DPT-3, BEN-1, INC-22
- Reproduces specimen drafting—notices, minutes, board/special resolutions
- Part I (Ch. 1–11) — Principles & Concepts
- Corporate personality and the doctrines of ultra vires, indoor management, constructive notice, alter ego, and lifting the veil
- Classification of companies
- The MOA/AOA
- Share capital and securities
- Membership
- Deposits
- Charges
- Dividends and the IEPF
- Accounts and audit (including NFRA)
- Restructuring
- Dormant companies
- Part II (Ch. 12–20) — Administration & Meetings
- General meetings
- Directors (DIN and every category of director)
- The Board and its committees
- CSR
- The annual return and ACTIVE
- KMP and the company secretary
- The MCA-21 e-governance framework
- Culminating in the case-study chapter
Paper 3 — Setting Up of Business, Industrial & Labour Laws
- Scale & Structure
- A complete question bank across two Parts/twenty-four chapters
- The last chapter is a cross-syllabus case-study chapter
- Part I — Setting Up of Business (13 chapters)
- Selecting the right business vehicle
- Corporate entities and companies
- LLPs
- Startups (Startup India)
- MSME registration
- Conversion of entities
- Non-corporate forms (proprietorship, partnership, HUF)
- Financial-services organisations (NBFCs, banks)
- Business collaborations and joint ventures
- Foreign-company entry routes (branch/liaison/wholly-owned subsidiary)
- Setting up business outside India
- Identifying industry-specific laws and initial compliances
- The various initial registrations and licences
- Part II — Industrial & Labour Law (11 chapters)
- Opens with the constitutional foundations of labour law
- The four Labour Codes: Code on Wages 2019; Industrial Relations Code 2020; Code on Social Security 2020; Occupational Safety, Health & Working Conditions Code 2020
- Standalone enactments still examined: Child & Adolescent Labour Act 1986; Apprentices Act 1961; Labour Laws Simplification Act 1988; POSH Act 2013
- Distinctive Strengths
- Long-standing questions recast and re-answered under current law—e.g. erstwhile gratuity and maternity-benefit problems now solved under the Code on Social Security 2020
- Trend analysis adds a Distinction tag alongside Practical/Descriptive
- Closes with the case-study chapter and a fully solved June 2026 paper running to 31 pages
Paper 4 — Corporate Accounting & Financial Management
- Scale & Structure
- A pure question-and-answer practice manual across two Parts/nineteen chapters
- Heavier chapters split into Units
- Bank reaches back as far as 1999; every question is session-and-marks tagged (e.g. [Dec. 2025 (5 Marks)])
- Part I — Corporate Accounting (Ch. 1–10)
- Introduction to Accounting and to Corporate Accounting
- Accounting Standards (grounded in the AS Rules 2021—SMC definition, applicability, exemptions)
- Accounting for Share Capital (five units: equity, sweat equity, preference shares, rights & bonus, underwriting)
- Debentures
- Related Aspects (differential-rights shares, buy-back, ESOPs)
- Consolidation
- Financial-Statement Analysis
- Cash Flow
- Forecasting
- Part II — Financial Management (Ch. 11–19)
- Introduction to FM
- Time Value of Money
- Capital Budgeting
- Cost of Capital
- Capital Structure & Leverages
- Dividend Decisions
- Working Capital Management (four units: working capital, cash, inventory, receivables)
- Security Analysis
- Operational Approach to Financial Decisions
- Worked Solutions
- Accounting side—journal entries (Dr./Cr.), ledger accounts, step-by-step computation tables, working notes, Schedule III balance-sheet formats, cash budgets
- FM side—proforma statements and the relevant formulae (EVA, cost of capital, leverage, CAPM, project ranking)
- Theory answers point-wise, with 'distinguish between' comparison tables
- Weight & Close
- Heaviest in the historically high-weight chapters: Share Capital, Working Capital Management, Capital Budgeting, Financial-Statement Analysis, Capital Structure & Leverages, Security Analysis
- Ends with a 30-page Solved Paper: June 2026 spanning both halves
- No separate case-study chapter
Every volume follows the same plan → practise → revise architecture, so a candidate moves through all four papers in an identical rhythm:
- Strategy-setting Front Matter — Each book opens with the three analytical tools (Marks Distribution, Trend Analysis with Practical/Descriptive tagging, ICSI Study-Material Comparison) placed ahead of the chapters, so strategy can be set before opening a single chapter
- Subject Chapters in ICSI Syllabus Sequence — The core chapters follow the official order; larger chapters (especially in CAFM) are subdivided into Units, so a sub-topic such as underwriting or receivables management can be practised on its own
- A Consistent Within-chapter Layout — Questions are first grouped under topic headings, then ordered chronologically; each carries its session and marks; the model answer follows immediately; repeated questions are merged under one answer; and answers cross-reference one another. In CAFM specifically, theory questions appear first under a 'Theoretical Questions' heading, followed by fully worked numericals presented sequentially as 'Problem No. …'
- A Dedicated Case-study Chapter — In three of the four books—positioned late in JIGL (the fifteenth chapter), Company Law (closing Part II) and SUBIL (closing Part II), gathering the high-mark, multi-issue scenarios. CAFM has no such chapter
- The Latest Solved Paper at the Close — Each volume ends with the Solved Paper: June 2026 (Suggested Answers), presented in the paper's actual form (e.g. Part I/Part II with an integrated case study in Company Law; 30 pages in CAFM and 31 pages in SUBIL) for real-paper benchmarking
20% OFF
