Shortly before India's independence from colonial rule, he was deployed in the North West Frontier Province, bordering Afghanistan, to quell local tribal uprisings.

After Independence, Candeth was commanding an artillery regiment that was deployed to Jammu and Kashmir after Pakistan-backed tribesmen attacked and captured a third of the province before being forced back by the Indian Army.

[7] https://web.stanford.edu/group/tomzgroup/pmwiki/uploads/1074-1971-Rubinoff-a-BTS.pdf As 17 Infantry Division commander, Candeth took the colony within a day and was immediately appointed Goa's first Indian administrator (acting as the Military Governor), a post he held till June 1962.

[9] He took command of the newly raised 8 Mountain Division in the North-East on 15 November 1963,[10] where he battled, although with little success, the highly organised Naga insurgents.

[13] Lt. Gen. Kunhiraman Palat Candeth was awarded the Param Vishisht Seva Medal and also the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India.