TERENCE J SIGAMONY
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has been urged to suspend the operation of its 28th November order regarding extension to incumbent Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa. A three-judge bench, headed by then Chief Justice of Pakistan Asif Saeed Khan Khosa on 28-11-2019 had granted six months extension to COAS General Bajwa and directed the Parliament to legislate and determine his tenure and other terms and conditions of service during this period.
“The current appointment of General Qamar Javed Bajwa as COAS shall be subject to the said legislation and shall continue for a period of six months from today (28-11-19), thereafter the new legislation shall determine his tenure and other terms and conditions of service,” said the November 28 order.
The federal government on Thursday filed an application for injunction under Order XXXIII Rule 6 of Supreme Court Rules read with Article 187 of the Constitution that the operation of the impugned judgment may be suspended/ stayed till the final decision of the civil review petition.
It submitted that the contents of the review petition may be treated as an integral part of this application.
After the announcement of the detailed judgment, the federation on Dec 26, 2019 submitted a review petition against the top court’s verdict, seeking for it to be set aside.
It has raised 26 questions of law against the judgement while pleading for “preservation of two leading institutions” for a “healthy democracy”. The government also apprised the top court that Gen Qamar’s contributions to national security “will go down in history” and “public at large has warmly welcomed” his reappointment.
The petition says, “The enemies of Pakistan were extremely happy when they thought that General Bajwa’s extension or re-appointment had fallen into jeopardy.”
It mentioned that Pakistan is undergoing a 5th generation war. Very recently, the Pulwama incident bears testimony to the preparedness of our armed forces under the able captaincy of General Qamar, who on his proactive initiative has also mustered healthy military international relations and support for Pakistan.
“The war on terror is not over. The wounds from the Army Public School (APS) incident are not forgotten. The preservation of two leading institutions of the state, i.e. the armed forces and the superior judiciary, are necessary concomitants to a healthy democracy, rule of law and safety and security against internal and external aggression. The enemies of the state, now for a number of years have ganged up to destabilize and discredit Pakistan.”
“General Bajwa’s contribution to take vital steps so as to facilitate safety and security in the country will go down in history. The pulse of the people at large is that General Qamar’s re-appointment has been warmly welcomed.
“There were seminars and processions in favour of General Qamar’s re-appointment, from which the pulse of the public opinion can be appreciated. In the present times, it is most appropriate to re-appoint General Bajwa, who himself never sought a re-appointment.”
The petitioner argues that the appointment of the COAS was strictly in accordance with the settled departmental practice followed for seven decades or so. “If one would look into the parliamentary debates or otherwise, which make it rather clear that intentionally and deliberately the matter of the appointment or extension of the COAS was left at the discretion of the prime minister/ president.”
The petitioner further argued that the apex court could not interfere in the legislative domain or equip itself with the function of a parallel legislative authority. “It is respectfully pointed out that the direction to the legislature could only be given by the courts so as to avert a situation of unconstitutionality or illegality. No judicial directions to the legislature could be given so as to convert a convention into a codified law,” read the petition.
The federal cabinet has proposed amendments to the Army Act in order to give a three-year extension to the army chief. The government is likely to introduce the amendment bill in Parliament today (Friday) after building a consensus with the opposition on the matter.
“According to an amendment, the maximum age limit for an army chief will be 64 years and this will be applied in case of extension in his term, but the regular age limit of COAS will be 60 years,” a cabinet member said, insisting that it would be the Prime Minister’s prerogative whether or not to give extension to the army chief in future.
