Supreme Court Grants Six-month Extension To Gen. Bajwa

The Supreme Court on Thursday granted six-month conditional extension in the service of Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 28th Nov, 2019 ) :The Supreme Court on Thursday granted six-month conditional extension in the service of Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa.

In a short order, the bench directed the government to introduce necessary legislation within six months' time regarding appointment procedure of army chief.

A three-member bench, headed by Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa and comprising Justice Mazhar Alam Khan and Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, announced the short order. Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa read out the short judgment and stated that the detailed order would be issued later on.

The court order stated that army chief's tenure period had not been mentioned anywhere in Constitution and army rules. It further said that it was also not mentioned to limit or suspend the retirement of chief of army staff.

Reading the judgment, the CJP said that court had reviewed several laws including Article 243 of the Constitution, Army Act 1952 and Rule 1954 in details. The court was leaving the legislation matter regarding army chief's appointment procedure and incentives for the Parliament while observing judicial restraint, the order further said.

The decision said Geneneral Qamar Bajwa's extension/reappointment had been challenged before this court whereas the government had been adopting dual stances during the proceeding.

The CJP said that President of Pakistan was the Supreme Commander of Armed Forces in accordance with the Constitution.

The order further said that the government had produced a new notification before the bench on this day's hearing, according to which General Qamar Bajwa had been reappointed as chief of army staff.

The court stated that Gen. Bajwa had been given conditional extension for a period of six months and his new tenure would start from November 28. The reappointment would be conditional with the legislation in Parliament.

Attorney General Anwar Mansoor assured the bench that the government would introduce the relevant legislation through Parliament within six months and produced the documents sought by the court.

Earlier, the bench had reserved its judgment on a petition filed by Riaz Haneef Rahid Advocate challenging the extension in service of Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa for a send term of three-year.

The court had directed the Attorney General to produce an undertaking that the government would legislate on the matter within six months.

The apex court also directed the government to present a new appointment notification after deleting the name of this court and time period of army chief.

During this day's hearing, the bench also viewed the notifications of extension granted to former army chief Gen. (reted) Ashfaq Pervez Kayani and retirement notification of Gen. (reted) Raheel Sharif.