Former Pakistan Air Force (PAF) chief retired Air Marshal Zafar Ahmed Chaudhry passed away due to a cardiac arrest, the PAF announced on Wednesday.

He had served as the 8th Air Force chief from March 3, 1972 to April 15, 1974. PAF Air Chief Marshal Mujahid Anwar Khan expressed profound grief over his demise.

Chaudhry was among the founding members of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. HRCP Chairperson Dr Mehdi Hasan in a statement on Wednesday announced a reference in his memory on December 30 in Lahore.

"A committed human rights activist, he was instrumental in supporting HRCP as an independent human rights organisation in the mid-1980s, when no such body existed," Hasan said.

"The Commission is indebted to him for helping establish its secretariat in Lahore. The entire HRCP family will feel his loss keenly, in particular the friends and comrades with whom he worked so closely," it added.