ISLAMABAD, January 2: The federal government on Thursday sought a stay order from the Supreme Court (SC) against its November 28 verdict in the army chief extension of service case.
The government in its plea requested the apex court “to accept the application and suspend/stay the operation of the impugned judgment dated November 28, 2019, in the interest of justice”.
This is the second petition filed in this high-profile case by the government. On December 26, the law ministry had approached the top court against its detailed judgment, issued on December 16, in which the federation was ordered to legislate on the matter within six months. The government has requested the apex court to suspend the decision of November 28 till the review petition’s verdict.
It is pertinent here to mention that the top court had allowed extension/reappointment of Army Chief General Qamar Javed 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.
The court has also ruled that legislation should be made in the parliament over the extension of the army chief in a six month period if it was not done in the given time then the army chief will be retired after six months.
The petition filed on Thursday prayed to the court that “The petitioners have a strong prima facie case to succeed; hence the operation of the impugned judgment may be suspended/stayed till the final decision of this civil review petition.”
It further stated that the “balance of convenience lies in favour of the petitioners” and if the “injunction as prayed is not granted, the petitioners will suffer irreparable loss.”
The plea asked the chief justice to “constitute a larger bench comprising five judges so as to hear the review petition.”
In its previous petition against the detailed order, the government had pleaded the court to keep the proceedings in-camera.-Sabah
