Plea to make Pakistan army chief Field Marshal dismissed

Justice Aamer Farooq observed that the court lacked jurisdiction to direct the legislature in this regard. When the judge asked the petitioner’s counsel Raja Saimul Haq Satti if there was any law under which the federal government might be asked to elevate Gen Raheel to field marshal, he said the federal government might make a new law for the purpose, Dawn reported. 

In his order, Justice Farooq said, “No direction can be issued to the legislature to legislate a particular law.” The order declared that the petition was ‘without merit and dismissed’. Petitioner Sardar Adnan Saleem had sought the high court’s help to elevate Gen Raheel, 60, to the rank of Field Marshal in the greater national interest. The petition, which had named the Prime Minister and the secretaries of defence and cabinet division as respondents, said Gen Sharif launched the Operation Zarb-i-Azb against terrorists and it was still in progress.

An anti-terrorist court in Islamabad on Friday directed the Pakistan police to implement its orders with regard to the arrest warrants issued against Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan and Pakistan Awami Tehrik(PAT) chief Tahirul Qadri in the Pakistan Television (PTV) head-quarters attack case. ATC judge Kausar Abbas Zaidi who presided over Friday’s hearing, inquired as to why the police had not been able to submit an implementation report on the court’s arrest orders, reports the Dawn. 70 people were booked after a mob of protesters belonging to the PTI and PAT stormed PTV headquarters and forced its staff to take two of the state broadcaster’s flagship channels - PTV News and PTV World - off the air on September 1, 2014.