Pakistan's top court grants temporary extension to army chief's term

By Asif Shahzad

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan's top court granted a six-month extension to the term of the country's army head General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Thursday, after initially blocking a three-year extension of his tenure.

"We leave this matter to parliament to make law regarding this," Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa said while delivering the verdict.

In a surprise ruling on Tuesday, the Supreme Court suspended the decision to extend, approved by the government in August, citing a series of irregularities and ordering the government and the army to produce legal provisions and detailed arguments on the reasoning behind the move.

(Reporting by Asif Shahzad; Writing by Alasdair Pal; Editing by Alison Williams)