ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought a report pertaining to former army chief General (Retd) Raheel Sharif and former director-general Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Lt Gen (Retd) Ahmed Shuja Pasha’s foreign employment from the defence ministry.
A three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar, inquired whether the senior army officials took permission from the federal government or not.
The bench noted that according to law, it is mandatory for ex-servicemen to seek permission for foreign employment as they are also prohibited from seeking any job for two years after retirement.
The bench also directed the defence ministry to obtain information in this regard.
The defence secretary informed the bench that there are no dual nationals in the Pakistan Army as according to the rules, anyone holding a dual nationality cannot be recruited in the armed forces.
The secretary, however, admitted that spouses of some army officials are dual nationals and permission was sought from the competent authority before their marriage.
The bench further asked the secretary whether any disciplinary action had been taken against those military officers who got married without permission and sought data in this regard.
Justice Nisar also directed the defence secretary to conduct an exercise within armed forces to identify those who are secretly holding dual nationalities.
The CJP expressed that if the same exercise was carried out in civil departments then it should even imply to the armed forces.
Agencies add: The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Wednesday directed Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to conduct polls in NA-60 constituency (Rawalpindi-IV).
Following the decision of the Apex Court, Awami Muslim League (AML) leader Sheikh Rashid withdrew his petition against the delay in elections in the constituency.
Talking to media, the AML leader said that the nation wants change which can only be delivered by Imran Khan.
He said “Khan’s victory is the win of the nation. Rashid Shafiq will contest election from our side in NA-60. One of my contenders was disqualified while the other withdrew in my support.”
On July 22, the ECP postponed polling in the NA-60 constituency due to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) candidate Hanif Abbasi’s disqualification by the Control of Narcotics Substances (CNS) Court of Rawalpindi a day earlier.
Rashid challenged the polls deferral in Lahore High Court and Supreme Court however; both his petitions were rejected, on the basis that it is practically impossible to hold elections in NA-60 on July 25.
According to the ECP, it would take a lot of time to print new ballot papers for the 700,000 voters residing in the constituency.
The chief justice had also advised Rashid to wait and contest a ‘fair’ election instead of winning on a walkover, “not for himself but for the sake of voters”. – NNI