ISLAMABAD – Federal Minister stirs new controversy over Supreme Courtverdict on COAS General Qamar Bajwa extension case.
Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry has said thatthe Supreme Court of Pakistan does not have the authority to dictate to theparliament on what matters to legislate on and how, *Voice of America(VOA) *reported on Friday.
The top court, in its Nov 28 verdict, had allowed the federal government togrant a six-month extension to COAS General Qamar Javed Bajwa, directingthe government to legislate on the army chief’s tenure and extension duringthis time.
Chaudhry, while speaking to *VOA Urdu*, questioned the judiciary’sauthority to direct the parliament on legislative matters, saying:
“The Supreme Court’s orders have a lot of legal defects and shortcomings.It almost eliminates Article 243.
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“The Supreme Court cannot tell the parliament that ‘you can legislate onthis but cannot legislate on that’ or ‘you can or cannot extend theduration’.
“In the 1956 and 1962 constitutions, the duration of the army chief’stenure was ascertained. But after many debates and arguments, it was takenout of the 1973 Constitution, and there was a reason for that because theParliament wanted the prime minister to be empowered.
“If you assign a specific amount of term to the army chief then how wouldyou remove him before the expiration of his term, if need be. Therefore,the Supreme Court’s verdict has a lot of flaws and it needs to becorrected.”
