The Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Department is the legal branch of the Indian Army. It deals with military related disciplinary cases and litigation and assists in providing legal assistance to the army in human rights matters and the rule of law among other things. The department consists of legally qualified Army officers who are educated in military law and provide legal help to the military in all aspects. The department supports the Judge Advocate General who is the legal and judicial chief of India and advises the Chief of the Army Staff of legal matters. The JAG’s Department is also responsible for emerging fields of military law such as those related to cyber laws, space laws, terrorism and human rights violations. The service rendered in the JAG’s Department are considered to be Judicial Service as per the regulations for the Indian Army.
In this article, YLCC brings you the details of the recruitment process in this department. Read on!
Eligibility Criteria:
- Nationality: A candidate must either be: (i) A citizen of India, or (ii) A subject of Nepal, (iii) A person of Indian origin who has migrated from Pakistan, Burma, Sri Lanka and East African countries of Kenya, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Zaire and Ethiopia and Vietnam with the intention of permanently settling in India, provided that a candidate belonging to categories (ii) and (iii) above shall be a person in whose favour a certificate of eligibility has been issued by the Government of India. Certificate of eligibility will, however, not be necessary for the case of candidates who are Gorkha subjects of Nepal.
- Age Limit: 21 to 27 years of age
Note: Candidates should note that the date of birth as recorded in the Matriculation/Secondary School Examination Certificate or an equivalent certificate on the date of submission of applications will only be accepted and no subsequent request for its change will be considered or granted.
- Educational Qualification: Minimum 55% aggregate marks in LLB Degree (three years professional after graduation or five years after 10+2 examination). The candidates should be eligible for registration as an advocate with the Bar Council of India/State. The candidate should be from a College/University recognized by the Bar Council of India.
Terms and Conditions of Service:
(a) Tenure of Engagement: Short Service Commission will be granted to Male and Female in the Regular Army for 14 years i.e. for an initial period of 10 years extendable by a further period of 04 years. Male & Female officers who are willing to continue to serve in the Army after the expiry of the period of ten years of Short Service Commission may, if eligible and suitable in all respects, be considered for the grant of Permanent Commission (PC) in the 10th year of their Short Service Commission in accordance with the relevant policies as issued from time to time. Those SSC officers (Male & Female) who are not selected for grant of PC but are otherwise considered fit and suitable, will be given options to continue as SSCOs for a total period of 14 years (including the initial tenure of 10 years) on expiry of which they will be released from the Army.
(b) Period of Probation: An officer will be on probation for a period of 6 months from the date he/she receives his/her commission. If he/she is reported on within the probationary period as unsuitable to retain his/her commission, his/her services may be terminated any time whether before or after the expiry of the probationary period.
(c) Ante Date Seniority: No ante date seniority will be granted.
(d) Termination of Commission: An officer granted Short Service Commission will be liable to serve for ten years but his/her Commission may be terminated at any time by the Government of India for:-
- Misconduct or if his/her services are found to be unsatisfactory, or
- On account of when found medically unfit, or
- If his/her services are no longer required, or
- If he/she fails to qualify in any prescribed test or course.
- An officer may on giving 3 months’ notice be permitted to resign his/her commission on compassionate grounds of which the Government of India will be the sole judge. An officer who is permitted to resign his/her commission on compassionate grounds will not be eligible for terminal gratuity.
(e) Reserve Liability: Short Service Commission Officers on release before or expiry of the contractual length of service will carry reserve liability to serve the Army for five years plus two years on a voluntary basis or up to the age of 37 years for women and 40 years for men whichever is earlier.
Training:
The duration of training is 49 weeks at OTA, Chennai:
- Selected candidates will be detailed for Pre-Commission training at OTA, Chennai according to their position in the final order of merit, up to the number of available vacancies, subject to meeting all eligibility criteria.
- Candidates will neither be allowed to marry during the period of training nor will he/she be allowed to live with parents/Guardians. Candidates must not marry until they complete the full training at the Officers Training Academy. A candidate, who marries subsequent to the date of his/her application, though successful at the Services Selection Board interview and medical examination, will not be eligible for training. A candidate if he/she marries, while under training, shall be discharged and will be liable to refund all expenditure incurred on him/her by the government.
- All candidates who successfully complete Pre-Commission training at Officers Training Academy, Chennai will be awarded ‘Post Graduate Diploma in Defence Management and Strategic Studies by the University of Madras.
Cost of Training:
The entire cost of training at OTA is at Government expense. In case the Lady/Gentleman cadet is withdrawn from training academy due to reasons other than Medical ground or the reasons not beyond his/her control, he/she will be liable to refund the cost of training @ Rs. 11,952/- per week till Sep 2020, thereafter a yearly escalation of 8% p.a. will be calculated on the Per Capita Cost of Training for each ensuing year (or as notified from time to time) apart from allied charges as fixed by the government from time to time, for the period of his/her stay at OTA, Chennai.
Note: The final allocation of Arms/Services will be made prior to passing out of the gentleman cadets/Lady cadets from OTA.
How to Apply:
Once the official notification has been released, note the following-
- Applications will only be accepted online on the website www.joinindianarmy.nic.in. Click on ‘Officer Entry Apply/Login’ and then click ‘Registration’ (Registrations not required, if already registered on www.joinindianarmy.nic.in). Fill the online registration form after reading the instructions carefully. After getting registered, click on ‘Apply Online’ under Dashboard. A page ‘Officers Selection – ‘Eligibility’ will open. Then click ‘Apply’ shown against Short Service Commission JAG Entry Course. A page ‘Application Form’ will open. Read the instructions carefully and click ‘Continue’ to fill in details as required under various segments. Personal information, Communication details, Education details and details of previous SSB. ‘Save & Continue’ each time before you go to the next segment. After filling in details on the last segment, you will move to a page ‘Summary of your information’ wherein you can check and edit the entries already made. Only after ascertaining the correctness of all your details, click on ‘Submit Now’. Candidates must click on ‘Submit Now’ each time they open the application for editing any details. The candidates are required to take out two copies of their application having Roll Number, 30 minutes after final closure of online application on last day.
Note: Candidates Are Advised To Read The Notification Carefully And Then Fill Up Online Application Form To Avoid Mistakes, And Thereby Rejection Of Application.
Important Note 1: No changes to details submitted to an online application can be made after the closure of the application. No representation in this regard shall be entertained.
Important Note 2: CGPA/Grades must be converted into Marks as per the formulae adopted by the concerned University for filling ‘Marks obtained in Graduation’ in the online application. Any discrepancy observed at any stage of the selection process will lead to the cancellation of candidature.
Important Note 3: Candidate’s name/parent’s name (father & mother)/ date of birth in the profile and online application must be as per Matriculation /Secondary School Examination certificate or equivalent certificate issued by the concerned Board of education. Variation in the above details will lead to the cancellation of the candidature.
Self-attested copy of the following documents along with their originals are to be carried to the Selection Centre by the candidates:-
- One copy of the Print out of the application duly signed and affixed with a self-attested photograph.
- Matriculation/Secondary School Examination Certificate or equivalent certificate and Mark Sheet issued by the concerned Board of Education.
Note 1 Matriculation/Secondary School Examination Certificate or equivalent certificate issued by the concerned Board of Education will only be accepted as proof of date of birth, candidate’s name and parent’s name (father & mother). No other document like Admit card/ Mark Sheet/Transfer certificate etc are acceptable.
Note 2 In case parent’s name (father & mother) is not mentioned in Matriculation/Secondary School Examination certificate or equivalent certificate, the candidate is required to produce any document issued by Govt. of India or States Govt. such as PAN card, Aadhaar card, Passport, Driving licence etc for verification. However, the candidate’s name and their parent’s name filled in the online application must match exactly with those mentioned in the produced document.
3. 12th Class Certificate & Marks sheet.
4. Graduation Degree/Provisional Degree (in case of three years LLB after graduation).
5. LLB Degree/Provisional Degree.
6. Marks sheets of all years/Semesters.
7. Registration with Bar Council of India/State OR Certificate from college / University that the LLB Course in the said institution is recognized by Bar Council of India.
8. Certificate issued by the University regarding formulae for conversion of CGPA/Grades into marks followed by the University.
- Any candidate who does not carry the above documents for the SSB interview, his/ her candidature will be cancelled and he/she will be returned.
- All certificates in original to be carried by the candidates for SSB interview for verification. Originals will be returned after verification at the SSB itself.
- The second copy of the printout of the online application is to be retained by the candidate for reference. There is no need to send any hard copy to Directorate General Recruiting.
- Candidates must submit only one online application. Receipt of multiple applications from the same candidate will result in cancellation of candidature, and NO representation will be entertained in this regard.
- Candidates serving in the Armed Forces are required to inform their Commanding Officer in writing that they have applied for this examination. Applications of candidates serving in the Armed Forces, duly countersigned by the Commanding Officer should be taken along with all other documents as stated above to the SSB interview as and when called for the same.
Selection Procedure:
The selection procedure is as follows:-
- Shortlisting of Applications Integrated HQ of MoD (Army) reserves the right for shortlisting of applications, without assigning any reason. After shortlisting of applications, the Centre allotment will be intimated to candidates via their email. After allotment of Selection Centre, candidates will have to log in to the website and select their SSB dates which are available on a first-come-first-serve basis initially. Thereafter, it will be allotted by the Selection Centres. The option to select the dates for SSB by candidates may be forfeited due to the occurrence of any exceptional circumstance/events.
- Only shortlisted eligible candidates will undergo SSB at Selection Centres, Allahabad(UP), Bhopal(MP), Bangalore (Karnataka) and Kapurthala (PB). Call up letter for SSB interview will be issued by respective Selection Centre on candidate’s registered e-mail id and SMS only. Allotment of Selection Centre is at the discretion of Directorate General of Recruiting, IHQ of MoD (Army) and No request for changes will be entertained in this regard.
- Candidates will be put through the two-stage selection procedure. Those who clear Stage I will go to Stage II. Those who fail in stage I will be returned on the same day. The duration of the SSB interview is five days and details of the same are available on the official website of Directorate General of Recruiting i.e, www.joinindianarmy.nic.in. This will be followed by a medical examination for the candidates who get recommended after Stage II.
- Candidates recommended by the SSB and declared medically fit will be issued a joining letter for training in the order of merit, depending on the number of vacancies available, subject to meeting all eligibility criteria.
Medical Examination:
Please visit www.joinindianarmy.nic.in for Medical Standards and Procedures of Medical Examination for Officers Entry into Army as applicable.
Note: The proceedings of the Medical Board are confidential and will not be divulged to anyone. Directorate General of Recruiting has no role to play in any Medical Boards and procedure advised by the medical authorities will be strictly adhered to.
Entitlement for Travelling Allowance:
Candidates appearing for SSB interview for the first time for a particular type of commission shall be entitled to AC 3-Tier to and fro railway fare or bus fare including reservation-Cum Sleeper Charges within the Indian Limits. Candidates who appear again for the same type of commission will not be entitled to travelling allowances on any subsequent occasion. For any query/clarification regarding admissibility or payment of travelling allowance, the candidates may directly approach the concerned Selection Centre.
Merit List:
It is to be noted that mere qualifying at the SSB interview does not confirm final selection. A merit list will be prepared on the basis of the marks obtained by the candidate at the SSB interview. In case equal SSB marks are obtained by more than one candidate, the older candidate(s) in age will be ranked higher in the merit. In case both SSB marks and the age of more than one candidate are the same, the candidate(s) with a higher percentage of marks in the qualifying examination will be placed higher in the merit. Higher educational qualifications, previous performances etc have no role to play. Those in the merit list and who come within the stipulated vacancies and are medically fit will be issued joining letters for Pre-Commissioning training at OTA, Chennai, subject to meeting all eligibility criteria.
On joining the Army, some of the Personal Restrictions in Service will be imposed in accordance with Article 33 of the Constitution of India as promulgated in the Army Act and Army Rules from time to time.
YLCC would like to thank Sachet Labroo for his valuable insights in this article.
