The Indian Army has published the Common Merit List with Marks for SSC (JAG)-124 (Men & Women) Course commencing October 2026. Eighteen law graduates have been recommended after the Services Selection Board (SSB) interview. Joining Letters will be issued strictly in order of merit against eight vacancies, subject to medical fitness, document verification and fulfilment of all eligibility conditions. Candidates who have not yet submitted semester marksheets, degree or provisional degree certificates and other papers must do so by 1 October 2026, failing which candidature will be cancelled.
This list is more than a ranking of 18 names. It is one of the first fully combined, gender-neutral JAG merit lists published after the Supreme Court’s August 2025 judgment in Arshnoor Kaur v. Union of India, which struck down separate male and female vacancy caps and directed a single public merit list with marks.
Selected candidates will report to the Officers Training Academy (OTA), Chennai, for 49 weeks of pre-commission training before being commissioned as Lieutenants in the Judge Advocate General’s Department.
What the JAG Branch Does
The Judge Advocate General’s Department is the legal and judicial arm of the Indian Army. JAG officers are soldiers first and lawyers second. Their work typically includes:
- Advising commanders on military law, administrative law, operational law and international humanitarian law
- Conducting and assisting courts-martial and other disciplinary proceedings
- Handling litigation by and against the Army
- Drafting and vetting contracts, policies and statutory instruments that affect service personnel
- Representing the organisation in civil courts and tribunals on service matters
The Department is headed by the Judge Advocate General, usually an officer of Major General rank, who is the principal legal adviser to the Chief of the Army Staff. A JAG officer is not a “desk lawyer” in the civilian sense: the role sits inside a uniformed, hierarchical, operational organisation and demands the same officer-like qualities that the SSB tests for every other Army entry.
JAG 124 Course: Notification Snapshot
| Particular | Detail |
|---|---|
| Course | SSC (JAG) 124th Course |
| Commencement | October 2026 |
| Academy | Officers Training Academy, Chennai |
| Training duration | 49 weeks |
| Vacancies notified | 08 (combined for men and women) |
| Commission | Short Service Commission (Non-Technical) as Lieutenant |
| Tenure | Initial 10 years, extendable by 4 years (maximum 14 years) |
| Permanent Commission | Considered in the 10th year, subject to eligibility and service requirement |
| Release options | After 5 years (special cases), 10 years or 14 years |
| Age (as on 1 July 2026) | 21–27 years (born between 2 July 1999 and 1 July 2005) |
| Education | LLB (3-year or 5-year) with minimum 55% aggregate; eligible for Bar Council registration |
| Shortlisting exam | CLAT PG 2025 (mandatory appearance and verification at SSB) |
| Marital status | Unmarried male and unmarried female only |
| Application window | 27 January 2026 to 27 February 2026 |
| Likely SSB window | May–June 2026 |
The Army reserved the right to vary vacancies according to operational need. The merit list itself does not incorporate medical results or document status. Inclusion on the list is therefore not a guarantee of a Joining Letter.
How Selection Actually Works
A common misconception among law students is that JAG SSB is a “softer” interview. It is not. The five-day, two-stage SSB is identical in structure to NDA, CDS, TES or SSC Tech: Officer Intelligence Rating and PPDT on Day 1; psychology (TAT, WAT, SRT, SD) on Day 2; GTO tasks on Days 3–4; interview and conference on Day 5.
The pipeline is:
- Online application on joinindianarmy.nic.in
- Shortlisting for SSB on the basis of CLAT PG 2025 score (cut-off is not a fixed percentage; it is a vacancy-to-call-up ratio decided after applications close)
- Five-day SSB at designated centres
- Medical examination for recommended candidates
- Final merit list prepared only on SSB marks (100% weightage for SSC JAG)
- Joining Letter in merit order, limited to vacancies, only if medically fit and documents are in order
Tie-breakers, if two candidates have the same SSB marks: older candidate first; if age is also the same, higher percentage in the qualifying LLB examination. Higher degrees (LLM, etc.) do not improve rank.
During training the cadet receives a stipend of ₹56,100 per month. On commissioning the pay is Level 10 (₹56,100–₹1,77,500) plus Military Service Pay of ₹15,500 and other allowances. Approximate CTC in the first year of commissioned service is in the ₹17–18 lakh range, excluding free medical cover and other service benefits. Successful completion of OTA training also carries a Post Graduate Diploma in Defence Management and Strategic Studies awarded by the University of Madras.
Marriage during training is not permitted; violation leads to discharge and recovery of training cost.
Why This List Is Structurally Different from Older JAG Lists
Until 2025 the Army routinely published separate merit lists and split vacancies (for example, six men and three women, or five and five). Women who outscored men were still excluded if the women’s quota was exhausted.
In Arshnoor Kaur v. Union of India (11 August 2025), a Supreme Court bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Manmohan held that once women are permitted into a branch under Section 12 of the Army Act, 1950, the executive cannot impose an extra “extent of induction” cap. Separate lists and male-reserved seats were held to violate equality. The Court directed:
- A common merit list for all JAG candidates
- Publication of marks of all recommended candidates
- Selection of the most meritorious candidates irrespective of gender
- Not less than 50% of vacancies to be available to women as a transitional corrective, but no ceiling if women occupy more than half of the meritorious slots
JAG 124’s “Common Merit List with Marks: SSC (JAG)-124 (Men & Women)” is the operational expression of that direction. Marks are public. Rank is a single number. Gender is not a separate queue.
JAG 124 Common Merit List (Official)
Vacancies: 08
Recommended candidates: 18
Course: October 2026, OTA Chennai
| Merit | Roll No. | Name of Candidate | SSB Marks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 901293 | Sameer Rajput | 487 |
| 2 | 900005 | Ankur Rana | 477 |
| 3 | 901623 | Shreyasi Vats | 471 |
| 4 | 900284 | V Vedika Rao | 467 |
| 5 | 900417 | Kanishka Chopra | 467 |
| 6 | 900812 | Mohd Hilal Alam | 466 |
| 7 | 901266 | Surya Bhan Singh | 459 |
| 8 | 900881 | Shambhavi Srivastava | 439 |
| 9 | 900807 | Shweta Borude | 428 |
| 10 | 901161 | Sanyukta Singh | 418 |
| 11 | 900823 | Shivanshu Jha | 418 |
| 12 | 901778 | A Rajeshwaran | 410 |
| 13 | 901446 | Kothari Shrithik Namitabh | 397 |
| 14 | 900358 | Rishabh Kalra | 393 |
| 15 | 900617 | Barkha Tandon | 392 |
| 16 | 900391 | Aditya Pratap Singh | 384 |
| 17 | 900773 | Sreenarmatha S | 381 |
| 18 | 900318 | Chaitanya Bithu | 372 |
Source: Official Common Merit List with Marks, SSC (JAG)-124.
Reading the numbers
- Top score: 487 (Sameer Rajput).
- Lowest recommended score: 372.
- Spread: 115 marks between rank 1 and rank 18.
- Cluster at the top: six candidates sit between 466 and 487. A few marks would have changed several positions.
- Tie on marks: Vedika Rao and Kanishka Chopra both have 467; Sanyukta Singh and Shivanshu Jha both have 418. Official tie-break (age, then LLB percentage) has already been applied to assign serial order.
- Women in the published list: several of the highest ranks are occupied by women (Shreyasi Vats at 3, Vedika Rao at 4, Kanishka Chopra at 5, Shambhavi Srivastava at 8, Shweta Borude at 9, Sanyukta Singh at 10, Barkha Tandon at 15, Sreenarmatha S at 17). Under a combined list, gender does not truncate their claim on the eight vacancies.
Only the first eight medically fit candidates with complete documents will receive Joining Letters against VAC-08. Candidates from rank 9 downward form a buffer for medical failures, document defaults and non-joining.
What Recommended Candidates Must Do Now
The official note on the merit list is unambiguous.
- Documents by 1 October 2026
All semester marksheets, Degree or Provisional Degree certificate and other requisite papers. Routes:- Fax: 011-26196205Self-attested scanned copies through the “Feedback/Query” module on www.joinindianarmy.nic.inSpeed post / registered post of self-attested copies
- Medical fitness
Merit does not include medical status. A candidate who is recommended but found unfit at SMB, and who does not succeed at Appeal or Review Medical Board, will not join even if ranked 1. - Joining Letter
Issued in merit order, only up to available vacancies, only to those who are medically fit and fully eligible. Training cost is borne by the government; withdrawal on specified grounds attracts recovery (historically notified as a weekly rate, revised from time to time). - Physical preparation for OTA
The notification lists minimum pre-joining standards (2.4 km run, long jump, push-ups, chin-ups, squats, lunges, 25 m swim). These are floors, not the academy’s training load. Candidates who treat them as the finish line struggle in the first weeks at Chennai.
Edge Cases Candidates Often Miss
- Provisional degree. Accepted if the university has issued it and all papers are submitted by the notified date. Final-year students who have not completed the degree are not eligible for this particular notification.
- Bar Council registration. Eligibility to register is required; actual enrolment certificate timing should be checked against the course notification and SSB instructions.
- CLAT PG verification. Failure to produce the CLAT PG 2025 result at the Selection Centre cancels the candidature even after a recommendation.
- Same marks, different rank. Age and then LLB percentage decide order. Candidates should keep both documents ready.
- Medical appeal. A temporary unfitness or a remediable condition can go to Appeal Medical Board and, in limited cases, Review Medical Board. Time lost here can still cost a vacancy if Joining Letters are issued to those already fit.
- Vacancy variation. The Army can increase or decrease the eight seats. A longer recommended list is the usual hedge.
Official updates, Joining Letter status and any change in vacancies will appear only on www.joinindianarmy.nic.in. Candidates should rely on that portal and the Feedback/Query module rather than unofficial forwards.
