I think the issue about punishment is based more on luck than
rank. In my NS days, there were at least two occassions whereby I
(as a gun commander) could have been charged (one involving
accident and one serious mishap during 155 live firing) and three
other commanders of my battery were let off on various occassions
(one involving accident and live firing, one involving accident and
one involving live firing). In one of the above live firing
incidents the battalion's RSM, a WOII (higher in rank than us)
almost got charged; he was more severely reprimanded than any of us
commanders.
For more details, see my lengthy post on Cockups.
