RAWALPINDI, Feb 4: The Lahore High Court’s Rawalpindi bench on Monday initiated contempt proceedings against the Judge Advocate General (JAG) of the Air Force for failing to provide documents relating to the court martial of a former air force technician.

Col (retired) Abdul Aziz Chandio, representing Amjad Farooq, a former PAF senior technician who was dismissed from the service last June, argued on Monday that “the JAG has willfully defied the court’s orders” by refusing to provide his client with documents relating to his trial and conviction by the Air Force Tribunal.

Since Farooq challenged his conviction in the LHC in September, the court has asked the PAF to provide the proceedings of the board of inquiry, the summary of evidence, and the trial proceedings on three separate occasions.

The PAF has only delivered the summary of evidence, and Col. Chandio asked the court to initiate contempt proceedings against the Judge Advocate General of the air force. The LHC has issued notice and is awaiting the JAG’s reply. Farooq’s case has now been adjourned until a date to be fixed by the registrar’s office.

Amjad Farooq was arrested in January 2012, following a scuffle with security staff as he tried to leave the Air Force base in Quetta, where he was posted, to take his wife to the Combined Military Hospital for treatment.

An internal inquiry found him guilty of absence, and the Air Force Tribunal began his court martial in March. Farooq was convicted on June 5, 2012, and dismissed from his position.

While arguing his case before the LHC, Col. Chandio alleged that his client had left the base to take his wife, who was complaining of chest pains, to the hospital.

Although Farooq had informed a colleague about the situation, the base administration marked him absent from duty and began disciplinary proceedings that led to his court martial. Col.

Chandio argued further that Farooq himself was a psychiatric patient.