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Published 10 Apr, 2022 12:06am

IHC to hear petition to stop PM Imran from dismissing army chief

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) is set hear a petition on Saturday night seeking to restrain Prime Minister Imran Khan from removing General Qamar Jawed Bajwa as the chief of army staff (COAS).

Reporters at the courtroom have confirmed that IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah has arrived at the court to take up the petition.

Advocate Adnan Iqbal filed the petition under Article 199 of the Constitution and named the Federation of Pakistan, Government of Pakistan, Prime Minister Imran Khan, President Dr Arif Alvi, Ministry of Law and the secretary of the Ministry of Defence as respondents.

According to Iqbal, he filed the petition to "uphold the enforcement and mandatory constitutional provision with regard to identification of term" of the COAS.

This comes in the wake of reports in local media claiming that PM Imran might dismiss COAS General Qamar Javed Bajwa as the country teeters on the brink of a political crisis ahead of the no-trust vote.

The report was met with a swift rebuttal by the government, with sources quoting PM Imran stating that no such action had been taken.

Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry also denied the media reports, stating that the government had taken any step to remove the army chief, terming such reports "baseless".

"The government fully understands the importance of the army chief and Pakistan Army as an institution. Reports that anyone is even thinking of changing the leadership of Pakistan Army are baseless rumours and lies. This is being done under an agenda. The government condemns these rumours and completely denies them," the minister wrote on Twitter.

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