Pak Army chief Bajwa's extension hangs in balance; SC adjourns hearing until Thursday

Pakistan Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa on Wednesday rapped the attorney general for turning the army chief into a "shuttlecock" and asked the Imran Khan government to step back and assess what it was doing, as he heard a plea against extending the tenure of Army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa.

Prime Minister Imran Khan through an official notification of August 19 granted a three-year extension to General Bajwa, citing "regional security environment".

Bajwa's original tenure is set to expire on Thursday at midnight and he can continue as the army chief if the Supreme Court decides the case in his favour before that.

"There is still time. The government should step back and assess what it is doing," said Chief Justice Khosa, who is heading a three-member apex court bench comprising Justices Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel and Syed Mansoor Ali Shah.

"They should not do something like this with a high-ranking officer," he said, referring to the extension of the army chief's tenure.

"You have turned the army chief into a shuttlecock," he told Attorney General Anwar Mansoor Khan, who presented arguments on behalf of the government.

Chief Justice Khosa said that new summary sent by the prime minister to the president was a request for reappointment of the army chief. But the president issued a notification for extension in his tenure.

"The government should clarify whether it wants to give an extension to army chief or wants to reappoint him," he said. "They never bothered to check what is written and what they are sending."
"Why do you make such errors?" asked the chief justice. "You should have the degrees of those people examined who are responsible for drafting these documents."
During the hearing, the attorney general said the process was "nothing new" and "extensions were notified in the same manner in the past."
Justice Alam responded, "In the past the court never stepped in to assess someone's extension in tenure."
"According to the law, during a war, the army chief can stop officers' retirements," Khosa said. "However, the government wants to stop the army chief's retirement."
Justice Shah pointed out that Article 243 of the Constitution talks about the appointment of an officer and asked: "Does it mention the period of appointment as well?"