ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court will take suo motu notice of the murder of well-known journalist and anchorperson Arshad Sharif in Kenya today (Monday).
A five-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Atta Bandial will hear the case at 1 pm.
The Chief Justice had taken suo motu notice to ensure an independent and transparent investigation into the case.
Other members of the bench include Justice Ijaz-ul-Ahsan, Justice Syed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, Justice Jamal Khan Mandukhel and Justice Muhammad Ali Mazahar.
The court issued notices to the Interior Secretary, Director General of Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Attorney General of Pakistan, Foreign Secretary, President of Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), Director General of Intelligence Bureau (IB). Released. On the occasion of the hearing of the case, Secretary Information Sheikh Mehmood Ahmed, AOR Adil Aziz Qazi, ASC Muhammad Saad Umar Butar, ASC Chaudhry Akhtar Ali, AOR Shazeeb Masood, Advocate Supreme Court and Inspector General Police Islamabad. Heard the case.
According to media reports, the Special Joint Investigation Team (JIT) formed to probe the murder will submit its report to the Supreme Court today. The team returned to Pakistan last week after completing their inquiries in Kenya and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Sharif was shot dead by Kenyan police on October 23 last year in a case of “mistaken identity” while he was traveling from the country’s city of Magadi to the capital, Nairobi.
Kenyan police claimed that the journalist was shot in a case of mistaken identity, but details that emerged later contradicted those claims.
On December 8, 2022, the federal government formed a new Special Joint Investigation Team (JIT) to investigate the journalist’s murder on the orders of the Supreme Court.
The new JIT includes members from Inter-Services Intelligence, IB, FIA and Islamabad Police. The members included Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Intelligence Branch Sajid Kayani, FIA Waqaruddin Syed, DIG Headquarters Owais Ahmed, Military Intelligence Murtaza Afzal and ISI Muhammad Aslam.
