Gen. Raheel did not obtain NOC, SC told

islamabad — Former army chief Gen. Raheel Sharif did not obtain a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the federal cabinet before leaving for Saudi Arabia to head a 41-nation military alliance, the attorney general told the Supreme Court on Tuesday.

During the hearing of a suo motu case regarding dual nationality of civil servants and judges, Attorney General Khalid Jawed Khan said that as per the law, the NOC is issued by the federal government to government officers willing to join service in foreign lands. It is required for the NOC to be approved by the federal cabinet under government service rules, he added.

The attorney general presented the legal perspective after defence secretary Lt-Gen. (retd) Zamirul Hassan informed the court that it was the defence ministry which had granted NOC to the ex-chief of army staff after General Headquarters (GHQ) cleared him to accept the post of Commander of Islamic Military Counterterrorism Coalition in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Speaking about Lt Gen Ahmad Shuja Pasha, the secretary told the court that the former ISI director general has said in his reply that he is currently unemployed.

After hearing all sides, a threejudge bench of the SC headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar ordered authorities that the matter of Raheel’s appointment be placed before the federal cabinet for a regular approval (or disapproval).

“We have to proceed according

to the law,” the CJ said during the hearing, observing that the authority of the federal government is controlled by the cabinet. He said the matter at hand was of an urgent nature.

The hearing was adjourned till an unannounced date after the summer vacations as the attorney

general and defence secretary sought time to refer the matter of NOC to the cabinet.

The court was earlier informed by the defence secretary that the process is underway to receive an undertaking from all members of the armed forces that they are not dual nationals.