SC dismisses plea challenging extension in army chief’s tenure

On Tuesday, a seven-member Supreme Court constitutional bench denied a petition contesting the army chief’s tenure extension.
The SC registrar office’s objections that the plea was inadmissible were also upheld, however the petition was denied by the bench led by Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan for non-pursuance.
Justices Ayesha Malik, Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Hassan Azhar Rizvi, Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Naeem Akhtar Afghan, and Musarrat Hilali are also on the Supreme Court bench.
This comes after the ruling coalition extended the set tenure of services heads to five years earlier this month by amending the legislation pertaining to the three branches of the armed forces through the Pakistan (Army/Air Force/Navy) Act Amendment, 2024.

The bill stated that the standards set forth for senior military officers “shall not be applicable” to the heads of the army, navy, and air force during their “tenure of appointment, reappointment, and/or extension.” This was in reference to the retirement age and service limits of service chiefs, including chief of army staff (COAS), chief of naval staff (CNS), and chief of air staff (CAS).
Section 8C, which addresses the 64-year-old retirement age and service chiefs’ service limitations, was also modified by the government.
A case concerning the filing of two first information reports (FIRs) for the same incident was also heard by the bench.
The court dismissed the petition after declaring it inadmissible during the hearings.