Review petition filed against verdict in COAS extension case

ISLAMABAD: A review petition has been filed by the federal government against the verdict of the Supreme Court (SC) in Chief of Army Staff (COAS) extension case, citing sources, ARY News reported on Thursday.

The federal government has sought formation of a larger bench by the apex court in its review petition. It is also sought to conduct in-camera hearing of the plea, sources said.

Earlier in the day, it emerged that the government decided to file a review petition against the top court’s verdict and prepared a draft plea to be submitted in the Supreme Court (SC).

Federal Law Minister Farogh Naseem arrived in the Supreme Court (SC) today where he met attorney general to hold consultations over filing review petition in COAS extension case.

A draft petition has been prepared that will be filed after final consultation, sources said.

While talking to journalists, Farogh Naseem announced that the federal government will challenge full verdict related to the extension of tenure of army chief and a review plea will be filed in the top court soon.

The law minister said a draft plea is prepared as many constitutional matters exist which need a reviewal. He added that the apex court had not observed many constitutional points in the judgement.

Read: Constitutional amendment not necessary for COAS extension: Babar Awan

It is pertinent to mention here that Supreme Court had granted a six-month extension to Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa in his service tenure in its short verdict announced on November 28.

On December 16, the Supreme Court (SC) had issued a 43-page written verdict in a case related to the extension of the army chief.

The written judgement by the apex court’s Justice Mansoor Ali Shah had been issued in connection with its previous short written order in the plea announced on November 28 that had ordered granting six months to the government for the legislation on the matter from the parliament.

Read: Full text of Supreme Court’s order in COAS extension case

An additional note of the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP), Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, was also given in the detailed verdict in the case.

The judgement stated that the matter is being handed over to the parliament in order to avoid such mistakes in future. It also read that the parliament must assign a tenure for the post of the army chief.

It added that the federal government had included the word, extension, during the hearing held on November 26, however, the legislation was incorrect as it did not mention the details of the army chief’s period of services and retirement age. The government had restricted the tenure of General Bajwa for three years under the regulation 255 but it was not eligible to be implemented as it did not define the retirement age of the general in the legislation, the verdict said.