Islamabad, The Pakistan government on Thursday filed a civil miscellaneous petition with the Supreme Court (SC), seeking a stay order on the its November 2019 verdict regarding the extension of the Chief of Army Staff’s (COAS).
The petition requested for the SC verdict on the army chief’s extension to not be implemented until a verdict is announced on the review petition filed by the government, reports Dawn.
It also asks for the previously filed review petition to be included in the latest application and for the constitution of a larger bench, comprising five judges, to hear the review petition.
On November 28, 2019, a three-member SC bench announced that Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa will remain the COAS for another six months, during which Parliament will legislate on the extension/re-appointment of an Army chief.
In response to this, the federal government submitted a review petition on December 26, 2019, against the top court’s verdict, seeking for it to be set aside.
The development comes a day the federal cabinet, in adherence to the SC’s November 28 decision, on Wednesday approved proposed amendments to the Constitution and the Army Act in order to give a three-year extension to the Army chief.
In the wake of the SC’s order to remove ambiguity in rules on the issue of extension in the Army chief’s tenure, the government also decided to introduce the amendment bill in parliament on Friday after building a consensus with the opposition on the matter.
Prime Minister Imran Khan had previously extended Bajwa’s tenure through a notification in August 2019, but the top court suspended it on November 26, 2019, due to irregularities in the manner of extension.