• The petitioner was court martialed under section 71 of the PAF Act
• Arguments that the LHC can exercise constitutional jurisdiction
ISLAMABAD: A civilian lecturer of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) has filed a petition before the Lahore High Court (LHC), Rawalpindi Bench to quash his sentence over a leaked call with a pilot – in which he was among his former students. was one of One congratulations. Them for shooting down the Indian fighter plane flown by Abhinandan Varthaman.
Indian Air Force pilot Vardhaman, who was holding After Pakistan shot down its MiG-21 Bison aircraft by PAF jets in 2019, it was recently Awarded with Vir Chakra Third highest wartime gallantry award by the Government of India after Param Vir Chakra and Maha Vir Chakra.
The petitioner, Hafiz Farooq Ahmed Khan, who was employed at PAF College Lower Topa, Murri, faced court martial after a telephonic conversation with the PAF pilot went viral on social media.
As per the details of the case, Khan was recruited through the Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC) in June 1999 as a civilian lecturer in PAF College.
He was charged under the provisions of the Official Secrets Act, 1923 and later convicted by court martial.
In his plea, Mr Khan stated that on the evening of February 27, 2019, he and his wife were watching television at their official residence at PAF College, Lower Topa.
The petition said that in the wake of the news of the shooting down of two Indian aircraft by the PAF during the standoff between the two countries, Mr Khan called up his old student, who was an Air Force fighter pilot, to congratulate him. ,
It added that the call lasted for two minutes and 27 seconds, during which Mr Khan exchanged congratulatory remarks with Pilot, who, without being questioned by the petitioner himself, said that whatever was being shown on the media was 30 There was no PC either and there were 350 casualties on the ground.
The petition narrates how the call was leaked and went viral on social media.
Mr Khan admitted in the petition that he had sent the same call to his 61 relatives and friends with enthusiasm and pride and to highlight the PAF spirit. “Eventually, the said call went viral on social media and was traced by the Air Intelligence Agency of the PAF,” he added.
The teacher was arrested on July 8, 2019 and was court-martialed on four charges under Section 71 of the PAF Act, 1953. He was accused of committing an offense during negotiations for a purpose prejudicial to security or interests. State. … recorded information about PAF air operations, which may be directly or indirectly useful to the enemy, “unauthorized capture of documents/information”, “failed to take due care of the same resulting in social media but The said information was leaked” and the dissemination of air operations to more than 60 unauthorized contacts.
During the court martial proceedings, Khan pleaded “not guilty”, after which the prosecution recorded the evidence of 11 witnesses and produced some documents, while in his defence, the teacher presented his wife and four other witnesses. Did. ,
Khan was sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for two years and eight months by the Field General Court Martial. The base commander waived the eight-month sentence and reduced it to 24 months.
The petitioner then filed an appeal before the PAF Appellate Tribunal which extended the sentence by one year and two months.
They argued that since no alternative forum was available for review, the LHC could invoke the constitutional jurisdiction of Article 199 to administer justice.
Published in Dawn, December 12, 2021