Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Tuesday suspended the decision to grant a three-year term extension to the powerful Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, in a major blow to Prime Minister Imran Khan who had cited “regional security environment” for the move.

However, Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa rejected the withdrawal bid and took up the petition as a public interest litigation under Article 184.During the hearing, the Chief Justice said the notification issued on August 19 mentioned an ‘extension’ while the notification issued by the Prime Minister’s Office said the army chief had been ‘reappointed’.

“As per rules, there is no authority of extending army chief’s tenure or his reappointment. The government can only suspend his retirement and the army chief has not retired yet,” Khosa said.

Prime Minister Khan had approved an extension to the tenure of General Bajwa for another three years, citing “regional security environment”.

Ties between India and Pakistan worsened following India’s decision on August 5 to revoke Jammu and Kashmir’s special status under Article 370.

Khan also took into account the ongoing Afghan peace talks between the US and the Taliban militants, facilitated by Islamabad, for extending Bajwa’s tenure.

“General Qamar Javed Bajwa is appointed Chief of Army Staff for another term of three years from the date of completion of the current tenure,” according to the notification.