Pakistan's Supreme Court suspends Pakistan Army Chief extension

Pakistan's Supreme Court yesterday suspended the decision to grant a three-year term extension to Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa.

The move came just ahead of 59-year-old Bajwa's retirement on November 29.

Prime Minister Imran Khan had approved an extension to the tenure of General Bajwa for another three years, citing the regional security environment.

The petition against Bajwa's extension was filed by a person named Raiz Rahi, who later filed an application to withdraw it.

However, Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa



rejected the withdrawal bid and took up the petition as public interest litigation under Article 184.

During the hearing, the chief justice said the notification issued on the matter on August 19 mentioned an extension while the notification issued by the Prime Minister's Office says the army chief has been ‘re-appointed'.

Justice Khosa said that only the president of Pakistan can extend the tenure of the Army chief. He also observed that when the matter was discussed in the Cabinet, only 11 out of 25 members approved the extension.