EXTENSION FOR PAKISTAN ARMY CHIEF QUASHED BY TOP COURT
BLOW FOR PM KHAN Law minister quits to represent govt at hearing on Bajwa
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Tuesday suspended the extension of army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa’s tenure until a hearing on Wednesday, in an unprecedented move that threatens to shake the power structure of the country.
Prime Minister Imran Khan had on August 19 approved the extension in Gen Bajwa’s tenure for three years. According to Geo News, Pakistan’s chief justice Asif Saeed Khosa said during the hearing, “The entire process was upside down. First, the Cabinet should have given the approval, then the PM and President should have been advised.”
ISLAMABAD/LAHORE: In a development that shook Pakistan’s power structure, the country’s chief justice Asif Saeed Khosa on Tuesday suspended the government notification for a three-year extension of army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa’s tenure until a hearing on Wednesday.
The court also issued notices to the defence ministry, the federal government and Bajwa, who is due to retire on November 29.
During the court proceedings, the chief justice said that “apparently the summary and approval of army chief’s extension is not correct”.
Later, Pakistan’s law minister Farogh Naseem resigned to represent the government in the case regarding Bajwa’s extension in the supreme court, a minister said after an emergency meeting of the cabinet. Railways minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said Naseem tendered his resignation during the cabinet meeting.
The court’s decision on Bajwa comes after Khan’s approval for an extension in his tenure for three years in August. Last week, the decision was followed by the approval of a new chairman of the joint chiefs of staff committee.
The person appointed, Nadeem Raza, had earlier been tipped to become the next army chief.
The chief justice was hearing a withdrawal application of a petition filed by The Jurists Foundation challenging the extension in Bajwa’s tenure. He, however, rejected the application and took up the petition in public interest under Article 184 (3) of Pakistan’s constitution. The case was converted into a suo moto notice.
Khosa asked the attorney general hearings whether the notification for the extension was issued on August 19 and the PM approved it on August 21. The attorney general told the chief justice that the cabinet’s approval was required prior to the PM’s approval. Khosa then inquired whether President Arif Alvi approved the extension to which the attorney general responded in the negative.
“Only the president can extend the tenure of the army chief,” he said during the hearing, to which the attorney general said, “We can take the approval from the president again.”
PAK COURT ACCEPTS MUSHARRAF’S PLEA
In a relief for Pervez Musharraf, the Lahore high court accepted a petition from the Dubai-based former Pakistani military dictator who sought to stop a special tribunal from pronouncing its verdict in the treason case against him on Thursday.