Pakistan: Court suspends extension in army chief's term

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan ( AA) - In a rare move, Pakistan's Supreme Court on Tuesday suspended a three-year extension in the term of army chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa, local media reported citing court orders.

A three-member bench of the apex court led by Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa suspended a notification issued by Prime Minister Imran Khan on Aug. 19 to extend the army chief's term for another three years in August, local broadcaster Geo News reported.

The rare verdict was announced on a petition challenging the premier's notification.

The court said only the president and not the premier can extend the term of army chief after the Cabinet's approval. In this case, the court observed, the president approved the notification for extension before Cabinet's approval, which apparently was not according to the Constitution, according to the report.

In a brief judgement, the court rejected the government's response that Bajwa's term was extended due to geo-strategic and regional security issues, saying if this was the case, then the term of any army officer could be extended.

Converting the petition into a suo-moto, the court issued notices to the government, the army chief and others for Wednesday.

Bajwa is set to retire on Nov. 28.

Previously, the terms of several army chiefs, have been extended, but this is the first time the Supreme Court has suspended the move.