Pak army chief Bajwa's extension in limbo

Islamabad, November 27

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. “They should not do something like this with a high-ranking officer,” he said.

“You have turned the army chief into a shuttlecock,” he told Attorney General Anwar Mansoor Khan.

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 or wants to reappoint him,” he said. General Anwar attributed the gaffe to “clerical errors” by the law ministry.

Prime Minister Khan held an emergency Cabinet meeting to deal with the precarious situation, with Gen Bajwa himself attending the deliberations. PTI