Descended from a cadet branch of the ruling Pathania Rajas of Nurpur, his paternal grandfather, Major-General Sardar Bahadur Nihal Singh Pathania (1853–1926), had been the commander of the Jammu and Kashmir army, leading them in the 1891 Hunza campaign and in the Black Mountain Expedition; his maternal grandfather Baj Singh Dalpatia had been a general during campaigns in Chitral.

[1] As a temporary captain during the East African Campaign, he fought in the Battle of Keren as a company commander and was awarded a Military Cross (MC) for his heroism.

[5] According to author Antony Brett: "Although wounded in the face and in both legs, he collected his company headquarters and any other men he could muster, and pushed the enemy out with the bayonet.

He continued to command his company for another five hours under shell, mortars and small arms fire until ordered to the rear by a senior officer.

His battalion was sent to Kashmir during the 1947-49 Indo-Pakistan War, where in November 1948, the Indian Army's advance towards Drass and Kargil was being halted at Pindras gorge.

The success of this operation was due entirely to Lt-Colonel PATHANIA's personal reconnaissance of the enemy defence and in finding the most suitable routes for the attack of his Bn.

He was a source of great encouragement to his men.On 14 October 1949, Pathania was promoted to acting brigadier and assigned to supervise the integration of the Saurashtra and Kutch princely state forces into the Indian Army.

According to the Express, sources mentioned the Report particularly singled out and harshly criticised Pathania's appointment and the performance of the 4th Infantry Division under his command.

[2] Under Pathania, the 4th Infantry Division was hastily reconstructed and under the IV Corps, assigned to defend fallback positions along the Se La-Senge-Dhirang axis in Arunachal Pradesh.

[2] On 14 November, the Chinese forces launched a general offensive in the eastern sectors along the front, resulting in the defeat of an Indian brigade at Walong.

[12] In Kaul's absence, Pathania panicked and contacted the Corps HQ requesting permission to withdraw from his positions at the Sela Pass.

Though General Pran Nath Thapar, the Chief of Army Staff, and the Eastern Command army commander Lieutenant-General L. P. Sen, along with Director of Military Operations Palit had arrived at Tezpur to boost Kaul's morale, and though Palit pleaded with both Thapar and Sen to convince Pathania against withdrawing from Se-la, neither general wanted to interfere with Kaul's corps.

[12] As a result, though Kaul repeatedly attempted to contact his division commander, during the night of 17 November Pathania withdrew two battalions from Se-la though neither had engaged the Chinese troops.

After his panicky retreat, Pathania wrote to Harish Chandra Sarin, then a joint secretary in the Defence Ministry, and requested another chance to fight, even as an ordinary soldier at the front.

In his final years, concerned about shortfalls of officers in the Indian Army, he delivered a message to youngsters that they should "serve in the world's best fighting force.