PM Imran after SC verdict: 'Great disappointment to those who expected Pakistan to be destabilised by clash of institutions'

PM Imran was reacting to the apex court order that granted six-month conditional extension to COAS.

ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) - Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday said that the Supreme Court verdict ‘must be a great disappointment to those who expected the country to be destabilised by a clash of institutions’.

The premier in a series of tweets said the decision must be of special disappointment to our external enemies and mafias within mafias who have stashed their loot abroad and seek to protect this loot by destabilising the country.

Mafias who have stashed their loot abroad and seek to protect this loot by destabilising the country.

— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) November 28, 2019

PM Imran was reacting to the apex court order that granted six-month conditional extension in the tenure of the Army Chief General Qamar javed Bajwa.

PM further stated that 23 years ago PTI was the first Party to advocate an independent Judiciary and Rule of Law. In 2007, PTI was in the forefront of the Movement for Independence of the Judiciary and I was jailed for it, he added.

Also, for the record, I have the greatest respect for CJ Khosa, one of the greatest Jurists produced by Pakistan.

— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) November 28, 2019

He said I have the greatest respect for CJP Asif Saeed Khosa as one of the greatest Jurists produced by Pakistan.

Earlier, Supreme Court granted a six-month conditional extension to incumbent General Qamar Javed Bajwa in his service as the chief of army staff (COAS), and ordered the government to complete the required legislation within six months for extension/appointment of an army chief.

In a short verbal verdict, Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa stated that the extension has been granted from Nov. 28 and the court would examine the legislation after six months.

Prior to announcement of the verdict, the top court ordered the government to submit, firstly, an undertaking that the parliament will pass legislation within six months, and secondly, an amended notification of the third summary passed by the federal cabinet for granting an extension to General Bajwa.

The amendments in the summary included removing, the mention of the Supreme Court, the duration of the army chief’s tenure and the description of army chief’s salary and incentives.

READ MORE:  Army Chief General Bajwa given six-month extension

In the case pertaining to the extension/reappointment of the army chief, mainly three legal points were considered; the provisions of the Constitution which support the move, the method, and the grounds or reasoning for granting the extension.

The apex court’s three-member bench comprising of Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, Justice Mian Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel and Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah presided over the hearing.