Recording of a pre‑trial confession by an incompetent authority will not impact the findings of a General court martial (GCM) if the conviction is based on evidence produced during the trial, the Punjab & Haryana High Court has ruled.

The high court agreed with the judgement of the Chandigarh Bench of the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) that had, in 2020, upheld the sentence of dismissal from service and life imprisonment awarded by a GCM to a soldier who had shot dead two colleagues in Doda with his service weapon way back in 2007.

A complaint over the incident had been lodged by the Army authorities with the local police at Bhaderwah, following which a case was registered under provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Army Act, and the accused soldier was produced before a magistrate in

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