Govt files review petition after finding 'glaring omissions, mistakes' in SC verdict on army chief's extension.

Nearly a month after the Supreme Court directed the parliament to legislate on the extension/appointment of an army chief, the federal government on Thursday submitted a review petition against the top court's verdict and asked that it be set aside.

"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," prime minister's aide Firdous Ashiq Awan said while talking to the media.

The review appeal, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, lists the federal government, Prime Minister Imran Khan, President Arif Alvi and Army Chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa as petitioners.

"[There are] flaws in the verdict, and legal and constitutional faults surfaced in the decision. With due respect to the judiciary, the government wants rectification of the faults and has thus decided to file the review petition. The review petition is being filed ultimately in the higher public interest," she added.

Prime Minister Imran Khan in August had granted a three-year extension to Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, who was supposed to retire on November 29. The top court, led by the then chief justice of Pakistan Asif Saeed Khosa, however, had suspended the notification on November 26 due to irregularities in the manner of extension.

After three days of heightened uncertainty, the three-member Supreme Court bench on Nov 28 had directed the parliament to legislate on the extension/reappointment of an army chief within six months, during which Bajwa would stay on.

Read: Ball in parliament's court to provide certainty to army chief's post with new law: SC

"We would like to emphasise that this crucial matter of the tenure of COAS and its extension, which has a somewhat chequered history, is before the Parliament, to fix for all times to come," wrote Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, a member of the three-judge bench which heard the case, in the court's 43-page judgment.

"It is now for the people of Pakistan and their chosen representatives in the Parliament to come up with a law that will provide certainty and predictability to the post of COAS, remembering that in strengthening institutions, nations prosper," the court had noted.

Speaking on Thursday, Awan said the option of legislation through the parliament, after filing the review petition, will remain intact, adding that Law Minister Farogh Naseem will brief the media in...