The Supreme Court of India has notified 250 posts of Junior Court Assistant. Applications open on 7 October 2026 and close on 28 October 2026. A Bachelor’s degree in any discipline qualifies, which makes this one of the few Supreme Court recruitments open to a law graduate on the same footing as everyone else — with the advantage that a quarter of the objective paper is law.
Before the detail, one correction that matters, because it decides what you read for.
Several listings describe the legal part of the objective paper as “Legal Knowledge” and cite “Supreme Court Rules 1961”. There is no such thing. The paper carries three separate legal sections: constitutional provisions relating to the judiciary, the Supreme Court Rules, 2013, and the Supreme Court Officers and Servants (Conditions of Service and Conduct) Rules, 1961. Two different instruments, two different years. Read both.
A note on the source, before anything else
The official advertisement dated 30 September 2026 is on the Supreme Court website, but it has been uploaded as a scanned image with no text layer. That means no site — including this one — can quote it mechanically, and it is why you will find the category-wise vacancy break-up missing from every report you read today.
Everything below is drawn from the published reports of the advertisement and is consistent across them, except where this page says otherwise. Download the PDF and read it yourself before you pay the fee. The link is in the sources at the foot of this page.
At a glance
| Recruiting body | Supreme Court of India, Registry |
| Post | Junior Court Assistant (JCA) — Group ‘B’, Non-Gazetted |
| Advertisement | Dated 30 September 2026; reported as Advt. No. F.6/2026-SC (RC) |
| Vacancies | 250 (tentative) |
| Pay | Level 6 of the Pay Matrix — entry pay ₹35,400, plus allowances |
| Qualification | Bachelor’s degree from a recognised University in India, knowledge of computer operation, and typing at 35 w.p.m. |
| Age | 18 to 30 years as on 1 September 2026 — born between 2 September 1996 and 1 September 2008 |
| Fee | ₹1,500 general; ₹750 SC, ST, OBC-NCL, PwBD and ex-servicemen (plus bank charges) |
| Apply from | 7 October 2026 |
| Last date | 28 October 2026, 11.55 p.m. |
| Objective test | 20 November 2026 (tentative) |
| Website | sci.gov.in |
Read the advertisement
Who can apply
| Requirement | What is asked for |
|---|---|
| Degree | A Bachelor’s degree from a recognised University in India. No particular subject is prescribed. A B.A., B.Com., B.Sc., B.Tech. or LL.B. all qualify. |
| Computer | Knowledge of computer operation. No source reports a specific certificate or diploma being insisted on — check the PDF. |
| Typing | 35 words per minute on computer, in English. No vernacular option is mentioned. |
| Age | 18 to 30 years as on 1 September 2026. Relaxation as per Government of India rules for SC, ST, OBC-NCL, PwBD and ex-servicemen; five years additional for dependents of freedom fighters; no upper age limit for departmental candidates. |
| Citizenship | Indian citizen. |
| If employed | A No Objection Certificate from the present employer is required at document verification. |
A point worth being careful about. The age relaxation is described everywhere only as “as per Government of India rules”. The actual table of years is in the scanned PDF and has not been reproduced anywhere. Do not assume the usual figures without checking — particularly if you are close to the ceiling.
How the selection works
Four stages, in this order.
| Stage | Maximum marks | Minimum to pass |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Objective Type Test | 100 | 50 |
| 2. Typing Speed Test | 50 | 25 |
| 3. Descriptive Written Test (English) | 100 | 50 |
| 4. Interview | 25 | 13 |
Candidates are reported to be called forward in a ratio against the tentative vacancies — about 1:10 for the typing and descriptive stage, and 1:3 for the interview. The typing and descriptive tests are held in Delhi or the National Capital Region only, even though the objective test is held across several States. Budget for the travel.
What is not clear from any report is which of these marks are carried into the final merit list and which are purely qualifying. That is in the PDF. It is the single most important thing to read, because it decides whether you optimise for the objective paper or for the interview.
The objective paper — the part most listings get wrong
100 questions, 100 marks, one and a half hours. Negative marking of 0.25 for each wrong answer. The sectional break-up is this:
| Section | Questions |
|---|---|
| General English, including comprehension | 20 |
| General Aptitude | 15 |
| General Knowledge | 15 |
| Constitutional provisions relating to the judiciary | 15 |
| Supreme Court Rules, 2013 | 10 |
| Supreme Court Officers and Servants (Conditions of Service and Conduct) Rules, 1961 | 10 |
| Computer Knowledge | 15 |
| Total | 100 |
Thirty-five of the hundred questions are law — the constitutional provisions on the judiciary, the Supreme Court Rules, 2013, and the 1961 service rules. For a law graduate that is a standing advantage of more than a third of the paper, and the two sets of Rules are short enough to be read end to end in a weekend. Both are on the Supreme Court website.
Listings that compress all of this into one line called “Legal Knowledge” are leaving you to guess. Listings that cite “Supreme Court Rules 1961” are citing an instrument that does not exist — the Rules of 1961 are the Officers and Servants (Conditions of Service and Conduct) Rules, which are about leave, conduct, penalties and seniority, not about procedure. The Rules of 2013 are the ones about filing, limitation, caveats, Benches and the Registrar’s powers. They are different papers and you need both.
The typing test
35 words per minute, on computer, in English. Mistakes are permitted up to 3 per cent of the total words typed, and they are counted like this:
- An error involving a word or a figure is a full mistake.
- Typing a capital letter as a small letter, or a small letter as a capital, is a half mistake.
- Errors of punctuation count as half mistakes.
Those are the usual counting conventions, but they are worth knowing before you practise: a candidate who types fast and leaves the shift key alone loses less than a candidate who drops whole words.
The descriptive paper
100 marks, in English. It is reported to consist of a comprehension passage, precis writing and an essay. Precis is the part most candidates have not practised since school and it is the part that is marked hardest: a precis that exceeds the prescribed length loses marks however well written.
Fee
| Category | Fee |
|---|---|
| General / UR | ₹1,500 + bank charges |
| SC, ST, OBC-NCL, PwBD, ex-servicemen | ₹750 + bank charges |
| Objection to the answer key | ₹100 per question, refundable if the objection is upheld |
Payment is online only, through the designated bank gateway. The fee is non-refundable. Note that no source states a separate last date for fee payment — do not assume it is the same as the last date for the application. Pay early.
Dates
| Event | Date |
|---|---|
| Advertisement issued | 30 September 2026 |
| Online application opens | 7 October 2026 |
| Last date to apply | 28 October 2026, 11.55 p.m. |
| Objective Type Test | 20 November 2026 (tentative) |
| Answer key published | 22 November 2026 |
| Window to file objections | 22 to 23 November 2026, until 11.55 p.m. |
| Typing test, descriptive test, interview | To be notified separately |
| Admit card | No date announced |
The objection window is two days. If you sit the paper on 20 November, note the questions you doubt on the day — you will not have time to reconstruct them later.
What is not yet public
These are in the advertisement but have not been reproduced in any report, because the PDF is a scan. Check each one in the document before you apply:
- The category-wise vacancy break-up — UR, EWS, OBC, SC, ST — and the reservation for PwBD and ex-servicemen, including whether it is horizontal.
- The age relaxation table with the actual number of years for each category.
- Whether the qualifying marks differ by category, or whether 50, 25, 50 and 13 apply to everyone.
- Which stages count towards the final merit list.
- The last date for fee payment, if it differs from the last date for the application.
- Any probation period, bond or service condition, and the place of posting.
- The apply-online address. Until it is published, go through sci.gov.in — do not trust a third-party link.
Where the listings differ
Because the official file cannot be quoted mechanically, the reports have drifted apart. These are the points on which they conflict, with the reading this page has adopted.
| Point | The conflict | Taken here as |
|---|---|---|
| Legal sections of the paper | Some listings give one “Legal Knowledge” section and cite “Supreme Court Rules 1961”; others give three separate sections across the Constitution, the 2013 Rules and the 1961 Rules | Three sections, 15 + 10 + 10. “Supreme Court Rules 1961” conflates two different instruments |
| Duration of the objective test | Two hours, or one and a half hours | One and a half hours — the majority reading |
| Interview marks | 25, or 50 | 25, with 13 qualifying — the majority reading |
| Place of posting | “New Delhi”, or “across India” | Not stated here. The post is in the Supreme Court Registry, so New Delhi is the natural reading, but no source confirms it |
| Pay | “₹35,400 + allowances”, or the full band ₹35,400–₹1,12,400 | Level 6, entry pay ₹35,400. The band is the standard Level 6 range but is not independently sourced |
| Advertisement number | Reported as F.6/2026-SC (RC) | Reported, not verified — the number appears only inside the scanned PDF |
Is it worth it for a law graduate?
A few things to weigh honestly.
- The law content favours you. Thirty-five marks out of a hundred on constitutional provisions and two sets of Supreme Court Rules is ground a law graduate can cover far faster than a candidate from any other discipline. The negative marking of 0.25 rewards knowing rather than guessing.
- The typing is the real filter. 35 w.p.m. with a 3 per cent error ceiling is not demanding for a regular typist and is a wall for someone who has never practised. Start now, not in November.
- It is a clerical post, not a law officer’s post. Junior Court Assistant is Group ‘B’ Non-Gazetted work in the Registry — filing, listing, records, court duty. It is a secure Central Government post at Level 6 in the Supreme Court, which is a serious thing, but it is not a judicial or advisory role and it will not by itself count as practice.
- The later stages are in Delhi. Factor in two trips if you clear the objective paper.
How to apply
- Go to sci.gov.in and open the Recruitments page. The application link goes live on 7 October 2026.
- Read the advertisement in full first — particularly the vacancy table and the age-relaxation table, which are not reproduced anywhere else.
- Keep ready: degree certificate, date-of-birth proof, category certificate in the prescribed Central Government format, PwBD certificate if applicable, a photograph and signature in the prescribed dimensions, and an NOC if you are employed.
- Pay the fee online. There is no offline mode and the fee is not refunded.
- Submit before 11.55 p.m. on 28 October 2026. Applications reportedly cannot be edited after submission, so check every field before you confirm.
Disclaimer: This post is prepared for information. It is not legal or career advice and it is not an official communication of the Supreme Court of India. The official advertisement dated 30 September 2026 has been published as a scanned image without a text layer, and the details above are drawn from published reports of it rather than from a machine-readable copy; where this page is uncertain it says so. The advertisement alone is authoritative. Verify every requirement — eligibility, age, reservation, fee and dates — against the PDF on sci.gov.in before applying, and do not rely on this page or any other aggregator for a decision that costs you a fee or a year.
Sources: the Supreme Court of India recruitments page at sci.gov.in, which carries the “Detailed advertisement for recruitment to the post of Junior Court Assistant in the Supreme Court of India — 30th September, 2026”; and the published reports of that advertisement.
