After topping his course at the National Defence Academy, (NDA) Khadakvasla, a year ago, Lieutenant Prince Raj, an alumnus of Sainik School, Kapurthala, in Punjab continued his march of excellence, bagging the silver medal in the order of merit of the Spring Term-2026 at the Indian Military Academy (IMA), Dehradun.
He was presented the medal by President Droupadi Murmu, who is also the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, during the passing out parade held at the academy on June 13. The President had reviewed the parade comprising 515 cadets from the 158th Regular Course and 141st Technical Graduates Course, including nine women.
Prince is from the Sainik School’s 2022 batch and had joined the NDA the same year as part of the 148th Course. He was conferred the President’s Gold Medal for standing first at the NDA on culmination of the three-year course in May 2025, and had thereafter proceeded to the IMA for the one-year pre-commission training.
Hailing from Patna in Bihar, Prince had studied at Sainik School Kapurthala for seven years from Class VI onwards. Prince’s father is in the Indian Railways and his mother is a homemaker housewife.
A top performer at the NDA as well as the IMA, he held the appointment of Battalion Cadet Adjutant at the NDA and Academy Under Officer at the IMA. Besides academics, he also excelled in sports and games and had won several championships.
In an earlier interaction with The Tribune, he had said that the Sainik School had groomed him thoroughly in every respect including mannerism, sports, behaviour and daily routine. The environment the school provided was exactly the same as at NDA.
In another instance of continuing excellence, Lieutenant Tejas Bhat was awarded the bronze medal for standing third in the order of merit in the Spring Term – 2026 at the IMA. He had also received the bronze medal while passing out from the NDA in 2025.
