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SC issues detailed judgment on army chief’s extension
The Supreme Court of Pakistan issued its detailed judgment on chief of the army staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa's extension
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan issued its detailed judgment on chief of the army staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa’s extension on Monday.
Last month, the Supreme Court had suspended a notification issued by the prime minister in August for Gen Qamar’s reappointment till 2022 citing procedural loopholes.
It directed the federal government to legislate and remove lacunae in the reappointment/extension of tenure of an army chief within six months.
The detailed written judgement by the apex court’s Justice Mansoor Ali Shah has been issued today in connection with its previous short written order in the plea announced on November 28 that had ordered granting six months to the government for the legislation on the matter from the parliament.
The court “found that the Pakistan Army Act, 1952 falls deficient of the structural requirements for raising and maintaining an Army under clause (3) of Article 243 of the Constitution”.
The verdict noted that “no tenure or age of retirement for the rank of General is provided under the law. As per the institutional practice a General retires on completion of a tenure of three years. Although an institutional practice cannot be a valid substitute of the law.”
“There is no provision in the law for extending service of a General for another tenure; nor is there any consistent and continuous institutional practice of granting such extension,” Justice Shah wrote, adding that the summaries for the reappointment, extension and fresh appointment of General Bajwa were “meaningless” in absence of the relevant law.
