Amendments in Army Act, Services Rules: Government likely to table bill in NA tomorrow

Federal Minister for Defense Pervez Khattak has said that the cabinet has approved amendments in Section 172 of the Army Act and Article 155 of the Services Rules.

While talking to media persons on Wednesday in a corridor of Parliament House, the minister said the government is yet to share details regarding the amendments. He said the amendment bill also includes a suggestion to extend the tenure of all the three services chiefs.

He said the amendments, passed unanimously, were made to the clauses related to the army chief's tenure and extension.

The amendments in the Army Act are an attempt to pave way for extending Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa's tenure for a period of three years.

On November 28, the Supreme Court in a short order announced that Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa will remain the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) for another six months, during which the Parliament would legislate on the extension/reappointment of an army chief.

According to the sources, the government is likely to table the bill in National Assembly on Friday (tomorrow). It will share the draft with the opposition on Thursday. They said that services chiefs' retirement age would be 64 years.

The sources said that a government committee, comprising Pervez Khattak, Amir Dogar, Ali Muhammad Khan and Azam Swati, has been formed to hold talks with opposition parties regarding the amendment bill.

Meanwhile, PPP Senator Abdul Rehman Malik commenting on the Army Act (Amendment) Bill said the notification for the extension of the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) was issued and there should be no more debate over the issue. However, he said, "Our neighboring country India has also given extension to its COAS Gen Bipin Rawat as the first Chief of Defense Staff where the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has formed his team for carrying out bloodshed of Muslims in the region."

On December 26, the government submitted a review petition against the top court's verdict and asked that the verdict be set aside.

Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan had said, "The review petition was filed [in the Supreme Court] because our legal team thoroughly, comprehensively, and closely reviewed all aspects of the decision and concluded that there are several legal gaps in the verdict."

She, however, said that the option of legislation through the Parliament will remain intact even after filing of the review petition.