ISLAMABAD:The Supreme Court on Tuesday suspended the government’s notification of Army Chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa’s tenure extension until tomorrow (Wednesday) hearing.
During the preliminary hearing of the matter, Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa observed that the summary and approval of army chief’s extension was not correct.
The court also issued notices to the defence ministry, federal government and Gen Bajwa, who is due to retire on November 29 (Friday). The hearing was adjourned until tomorrow (Wednesday).
Earlier, on August 19, Prime Minister Imran Khan had approved three year extension in the tenure of Gen Bajwa.
Today (Tuesday), the chief justice took up a withdrawal application of a petition filed by The Jurists Foundation challenging the extension in Gen Bajwa’s tenure.
The chief justice, however, rejected the application to withdraw the petition and took it up in public interest under Article 184 (3) of the Constitution.
The case was converted into a suo motu notice.
During the hearing, the chief justice questioned that if the notification was issued on August 19, then what did the prime minister approve on August 21.
The attorney general Anwar Mansoor responded that the prime minister had signed the notification after the cabinet’s approval.
To a court query that: “After the cabinet gave its approval, did the president approve it again?” attorney general responded in the negative.
The chief justice noted that only the president of Pakistan can extend the tenure of the army chief.
The attorney general the stated that the approval from the president could be taken again.
The chief justice then noted that only 11 members of the cabinet out of 25 had approved the extension in the tenure of the army chief.
He said 14 members of the cabinet did not give any opinion due to non-availability.
“Did the government take their silence as agreement?”, the chief justice questioned.
The attorney general then stated that those who did not say ‘yes’ had not taken part in the voting for extension.
The court will again hear the matter tomorrow (Wednesday).