supreme court of pakistan on wednesday continued hearing a case concerning the legality of the extension in the tenure of pakistan armty chief gen.qamar javed bajwa, with a three member bench questioning under which law the federal cabinet amended the army rules a day earlier.
The goverment on tuesday amended section 255 of the army rules and regulation,claiming it legalized the extension process for the incumbent army chief. chief justice asif saeed khosa however, said the clause did not concern the chief of army staff. "the section that you amended is not about the army chief at all," he said,adding," article 255 is regarding those officials who have retired or have been expelled from service."
In response, attorney general anwar mansoor khan said he had not yet had time to examine the amendment,prompting the court to suggest that it might be better to first properly understand the army act,dealing with laws related to the armed force.
according to the AG, the duration of tenure three years in this case was decided in accordance with the1947 convention. the top judge countered by saying those rules concerned generals not the army chief. " this is the court of law... we will decide on the base of merit." he said. to this the AG urged the court to shw more flexibility with application of the law. " if a stick is too rigid, it can break," he added.
during the proceeding, justice syed mansoor ali shah asked the AG to clarify if a retired general could be appointed as army chief. " perhaps... but there is no precedent for this,"respond mansoor khan. shah also wondered how and why a three year term was determined for an extension to which the Admitted that the duration had not been specified in any laws.
"the matter of the army chief,s tenure is very important," said the chief justice. "in the past,five or six generals have granted themselves extensions. we will look at this matter closely so that this does nu=ot happen in the future," he said. adding the court was in no rush to render its verdict.
TO BE CONTINUED
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