The lawyer, Riaz Hanif Rahi who challenged the extension of Chief of Army Staff’s (COAS) tenure has been found. He earlier failed to appear in court on Tuesday nor anybody else had appeared on his behalf.

In a recent video posted by journalist Baqir Sajjad on his Twitter account shows the petitioner appearing in court for hearing of the army chief’s extension case. Replying to the question about why he filed an application to withdraw his original petition against Gen Bajwa, he replied, “I have no personal grudge with anyone and highlighted the point as law demanded it”.

Riaz Rahi, however, refused to answer when asked: “If someone is pressurizing him to withdraw his original petition against COAS extension?”.

The Jurist Foundation had earlier challenged Gen Bajwa’s reappointment through its counsel Riaz Hanif Rahi, requesting the apex court to declare it null and void, and illegal.

When the court assembled on Tuesday, a hand-written application from the petitioner Riaz was submitted before the bench, seeking withdrawal of his petition. The chief justice (CJ) Asif Saeed Khosa remarked that the application was not accompanied by any affidavit and it was not known if the withdrawal of the petition was voluntarily.

CJ Khosa later rejected the application against Gen Bajwa’s extension and took up the petition under Article 184 (3) of the Constitution as it involved a question of “public importance”.