The Supreme Court (SC) decided to take up suo motu notice regarding the assassination of high-profile journalist and anchorperson Arshad Sharif in Kenya today.
Five-member Supreme Court panel led by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial will hear the case at 1 pm.
Arshad Sharif’s suo motu case
The chief justice had proceeded with the suo motu to ensure an unbiased and fair probe into the issue.
Furthermore, Justices Ijazul Ahsan, Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, Jamal Khan Mandokhail, and Muhammad Ali Mazhar will also serve on the bench.
Officials who received notices from SC
The supreme court issued notices to the attorney general for Pakistan, the foreign secretary, the interior secretary, and the director-general of the Intelligence Bureau (IB).
Along with the director-general of the FIA, the president of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) and Information Secretary Sheikh Mahmood Ahmad also received notices.
Moreover, ASC Muhammad Saad Umar Butter, ASC Chaudhry Akhtar Ali, AOR Shazib Masood, and AOR Adil Aziz Qazi received notices.
special joint investigation team (JIT)
The special joint investigation team (JIT) was constituted to investigate the murder. It will present its investigation to the SC today. Moreover, the team landed in Pakistan last Monday. The team has concluded its investigation in Kenya and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Arshad was fatally shot by Kenyan police on basis of a “mistaken identity” case on 23 October 22. However, the reports that emerged later were contradicting.
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The federal government constituted a new JIT team on 8 December 2022. This team was formed to investigate the journalist’s murder.
JIT included members from FIA, IB, Inter-Services Intelligence, and the Islamabad Police. However, members were DIG Intelligence Branch Sajid Kiyani, FIA’s Waqarauddin Syed, and DIG Headquarters. Moreover, Owais Ahmed, Military Intelligence’s Murtaza Afzal, and ISI’s Muhammad Aslam were included.
