In Brief
A soldier of the 3 Rashtriya Rifles was dismissed from service and sentenced to six months imprisonment after being found guilty of cowardice during a 2006 militant attack in Jammu and Kashmir. The soldier had abandoned his post at a light machine gun position, failed to use his weapons, and did not retaliate when militants killed his colleague and captured the weapon. The Supreme Court upheld the dismissal, finding his explanation of temporary unconsciousness unbelievable since he accurately described subsequent events he claimed not to have witnessed. However, the Court set aside the imprisonment order, noting the gunshot injury he sustained and the passage of time.
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