SC takes up Arshad Sharif suo motu case today

ISLAMABAD: A five-member bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, will hear the suo moto notice case on Monday (today) about the murder of senior journalist and anchorperson Arshad Sharif in Kenya.

The hearing of the case will be conducted at 1 pm. The chief justice of Pakistan had taken suo moto with regard to an independent and transparent investigation into the murder of Arshad Sharif.

The other members of the bench are Justice Ijazul Ahsen, Justice Sayed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhel and Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar.

The court has issued notices to the interior secretary, DG FIA, attorney general for Pakistan, secretary Ministry of Foreign Affairs, President PFUJ, DG IB, Secretary of Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Sheikh Mahmood Ahmad, AOR Adil Aziz Qazi, ASC Muhammad Saad Umar Butter, ASC Chaudhry Akhtar Ali, AOR Shazib Masud, advocate Supreme Court, and Inspector General of Police, Islamabad, on the hearing of the case.

According to media reports, the special Joint Investigation Team (JIT), formed to probe the murder of Arshad Sharif, will submit its report to the SC on Monday (today). The team returned to Pakistan last week after completing its inquiry in Kenya and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The senior journalist was killed in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, on October 23, where he was living in self-exile.

On Dec 8, the federal government formed a new special joint investigation team (JIT) to probe the murder of Arshad Sharif on the orders of the Supreme Court (SC). The new JIT includes members from the ISI, IB, FIA and the Islamabad Police. The members include DIG Intelligence Branch Sajid Kiyani, FIA’s Waqarauddin Syed, DIG Headquarters, Owais Ahmed, Murtaza Afzal from the Military Intelligence and Muhammad Aslam from the ISI.