Army Act Amendment Bill 2020 presented in National Assembly for approval

Defence Minister Pervez Khattak tabled the bills during session chaired by NA Speaker Asad Qaiser.

ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) - Three bills “Pakistan Army (Amendment) Bill 2020,” Pakistan Air Force (Amendment) Bill 2020,” and "Pakistan Navy (Amendment) Bill 2020" have been presented in the National Assembly today (Friday).

According to details, Defence Minister Pervez Khattak tabled the bills during the session chaired by NA Speaker Asad Qaiser. The proceedings have been adjourned till Saturday morning while all three bills based on rules and regulations have been forwarded to the relevant standing committees.

Later, a joint meeting of the Senate and National Assembly standing committees on defence also approved all three bill. Members of both standing committees were present in the session including Defence Minister Pervez Khattak, Federal Minister for Law and Justice Farogh Naseem, Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed, Senator Sherry Rehman and others. On Thursday, government delegation headed by Defence Minister Pervez Khattak held meeting with PML-N leaders and sought their support on Army Act amendment bill. The committee consisting Pervez Khattak, Federal Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Senator Azam Swati and Leader of the House in Senate Syed Shibli Faraz arrived at opposition’s chamber and discussed the matter with Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s Khawaja Asif, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, Rana Tanvir and others.

Not only PML-N but Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) had also expressed its support to the amendment bill and assured to assist the government in approving it in the assembly.  Earlier, Federal Cabinet had approved amendment in Army Act for an extension in the tenure of all military chiefs.

The retirement age of three armed forces will be 64 years. The proposed bill stated that the Prime Minister of Pakistan can advise an extension in the tenure of any service chief. 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 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).