The sentence is subject to the approval of the Army chief and the ministry of defence.
This is the first time that a retired officer of the high rank of the Lt General has been awarded this punishment. Lt Gen (retd) S K Sahni, who was the director general supplies and transport, has been found guilty of procuring poor quality food items for troops. The General held the responsibility of supplies to the troops serving across the country.
Cashiering means dismissal from service without terminal benefits including pension and gratuity. Sahni is the first Lt General in the history of the Army to have faced the General Court Martial (GCM). He was proved guilty on six of the nine charges of professional misconduct levelled against him.
The court martial proceedings against him begun in August last year at the 11 Corps headquarters in Jalandhar in Punjab. The court found that Sahni did not prevent consumption of the contaminated pulses by the troops.