The Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday granted a six-month conditional extension to Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa as it directed the federal government to furnish a fresh summary of the army chief’s extension of services.
According to details, announcing the verdict in the COAS’s extension case, which was reserved earlier in the day, a three-member bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Asif Saeed Khan Khosa, sought an undertaking from the government that it would legislate on the matter within six months.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan also took to Twitter to comment on the development.
For the third day, the bench heard the petition challenging the extension. When the hearing resumed, the CJP asked Attorney General (AG) Anwar Mansoor Khan to present the notifications of extension granted to former army chief General (r) Ashfaq Pervez Kayani, as well as the notification of the retirement of Gen (r) Raheel Sharif.
The attorney general informed the court that General Qamar Bajwa has been reappointed under Article 243, to which the CJP remarked that the government had to convince them it was legal.
After arguments made by the AG and Gen Bajwa’s counsel Farogh Naseem, the bench stated that a 10-member full court will announce the short order in the afternoon, whereas the detailed verdict would be issued in the evening.
In the meantime, the court granted General Bajwa permission to continue working, conditionally. It further instructed the government to prepare a fresh notification, which does not list the tenure of the extension.
