Senate Chairaman Sadiq Sanjrani presided over the session as Defencce Minister Pervez Khattak tabled the bills which were unanimously passed, and adjourned the sessions till Friday.
ISLAMABAD: (Urdu Point/Pakistan Point News-Jan 8th, 2020) After successfully sailing through National Assembly, three bills regarding extension in tenure of Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Naval chief and joint chief of the staff committee have been approved by Senate here on Wednesday.
Senate Chairman Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani presided over the session as Defence Minister Pervez Khattak tabled the bills which were unanimously passed. The session was then adjourned till Friday, 10:30 AM.
The three bills including Pakistan Army (Amendment) Bill 2020, the Pakistan Air Force (Amendment) Bill 2020 and the Pakistan Navy (Amendment) Bill 2020 are concerning the tenures of services chiefs and chairman of joint chiefs of the staff committee.
A day before National Assembly approved the bills with majority votes. However, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islami-Fazl (JUI-F) and Jamat-i-Islami walked out from the session and opposed amendment in the Army Act. The PPP also withdrew its application for amendment in the Army Act.
The Federal cabinet under the chair of Prime Minister Imran Khan, gave approval of amendment in Army Act for extension in tenure of incumbent Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa here on Wednesday.
The amendment was approved in the cabinet meeting that was suddenly called by Prime Minister Imran Khan. According to the sources, the bill would be produced soon in the parliament for final approval.
In Oct, 2019, the top court allowed extension/reappointment of Gen Bajwa for another six months and asked the government to determine the tenure, terms and conditions of the service of the army chief through legislation within the period of six months.
The court summarised its findings after exploring the scope of Article 243 of the Constitution — which governs the army chief’s appointment, reviewing the Pakistan Army Act, 1952, reviewing the Pakistan Army Act, 1952, the Pakistan Army Act Rules, 1954, and the Army Regulations (Rules).
In its verdict, the top court made it clear that, in case, the federal government remained unable to regulate the tenure and terms of service of a general and as a consequence of the army chief through an appropriate legislation by the parliament within a period of six months, "the tenure of the constitutional post of COAS could not be left totally unregulated and to continue forever" as "this would be inconceivable and amount to a constitutional absurdity,”.
The top court also held: “In case of such failure of the federal government, the institutional practice of retirement of a general on completion of the tenure of three years "shall stand enforced" to regulate the tenure of Gen Bajwa and consequentially his tenure as COAS, from the date of his promotion to the rank of general and appointment as the army chief, i.e. November 29, 2016.
In that case, "the president shall, on advice of the prime minister, appoint a serving general officer as the new COAS", said the verdict.
Earlier, the federal government prepared at least for six times the notification for extension in tenure of incumbent COAS General Bajwa, and every time failed to convince the top court in open proceedings on the subject matter.
