IN a significant move, the National Assembly and the Senate approved legislation that would go a long way in ensuring stability and continuity as well as expeditious dispensation of justice. The two houses passed six bills aimed at increasing the tenure of the services chiefs from the existing three to five years and doubling the number of Supreme Court judges from 17 to 34 and enhancing the strength of the Islamabad High Court judges from 09 to 12.
The reservations being expressed by some vested interests notwithstanding, the extension in the tenure of the services chiefs would surely benefit the country by way of continuity. The statement of objects and reasons of three bills (relating to tenure of services’ chiefs) said that amendments were required to make consistent the Pakistan Army Act, 1952, Pakistan Navy Ordinance, 1961 and Pakistan Air Force Act, 1953, with the maximum tenure of three services’ chiefs and make amendments for uniformity. The critics have no valid reason to substantiate their propaganda as the move is not person-specific but institutional and this is in sharp contrast to the past practice when individual-specific extensions were granted. The latest change is in line with the ground realities as the country is passing through a transformative stage as far as reforms in various sectors are concerned. These reforms are understandably backed by the defence forces as these are intrinsically linked to a better future of the country. Therefore, the extension of the tenure of the services chiefs from three to five years will end confusion, if any, in the minds of local and foreign investors vis-à-vis implementation and continuation of existing policies through the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC).
By introducing these changes at this point of time, the Parliament has tried to send a positive message to all stakeholders as well as prospective investors about continuity of efforts in handling multi-dimensional challenges in economic and security domains. Otherwise too, the increase in tenure will enable the services chiefs to plan and implement their development and modernization agenda (for their institutions) in an effective and satisfactory manner. It was felt that three years were not enough for taking policies and plans to their logical conclusion but now a comparatively longer time will be available to the chiefs to do so. It is also a matter of satisfaction that all political parties in the parliament, with the exception of one party, have voted in favour of amendments in the tenure of the services chiefs, which means the move has the support of all parties and stakeholders.
The issue also has another dimension – the country is gripped by unnecessary hype whenever the deadline approaches for appointment of a service chief, sparking controversies and rumour-mongering about extension of service of the incumbent chief. The new Act will hopefully minimize controversies on this account. As for the increase in the number of judges in the Supreme Court and the Islamabad High Court, this is in line with the longstanding demand of some segments of the legal fraternity as part of the strategy to cope with the backlog of cases. The increase in the number of judges in the apex court was also due after adoption of the 26th Amendment in the Constitution envisaging creation of separate constitutional benches. Now we will have enough judges to spare them for the constitutional benches without disturbing the availability of judges for other cases. However, only time will prove whether or not this increase in the number of judges translates into clearance of the backlog and expeditious disposal of cases, which presently take, sometimes, decades to conclude due to a number of other factors as well.
