Services chiefs' tenure amendment bills to be presented in Senate today
Last updated on: 08 January,2020 03:28 pm
Services chiefs' tenure amendment bills to be presented in Senate today
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Senate is all set to hold debate on the three bills Pakistan Army (Amendment) bill, 2020, Pakistan Air Force (Amendment) bill, 2020 and Pakistan Navy (Amendment) bill, 2020 for approval today (Wednesday).
According to details, the session will start at 3:00pm in the Parliament House.
Senate chairman had referred the bills to the concerned Standing Committee of the House for further procedure.
Earlier, National Assembly had approved the amendment bills regarding extension in the tenure of the services chiefs and chairman of joint chiefs of the staff committee.
Religious parties Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) didn’t participate in the voting process and walked out of the NA declaring it as "fake".
Decided amendments in armed forces bills As per amendments, the hiring of the services chiefs and chairman of the joint chief of staff committee would be the right of the prime minister and his decision to appoint, reappoint or extend the tenures of chiefs and the chairman cannot be challenged in any court.
The age limit for the appointment has been fixed at 64 years in the case of reappointment and extension, otherwise, the officer will retire at the age of 60 years.
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).