SC orders to lodge FIR of Arshad Sharif’s murder by tonight
The Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP) on Tuesday ordered the government to lodge a first information report (FIR) of the murder of senior journalist Arshad Sharif by tonight.
Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial issued the directives today during the hearing of the suo motu notice of the journalist’s killing in Kenya.
During the hearing Supreme Court declared the medical report of slain journalist Arshad Sharif ‘unsatisfactory’.
A five-member larger bench headed by the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Badial includes Justice Ijaz ul Ahsan, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Justice Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi and Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar is hearing the case.
At the outset of the hearing, CJP inquired that the Ministry of Interior have to submit the report of the fact-finding committee last Friday.
Additional Attorney General Aamir Rehman told the court that he [Interior minister] will present the report of the fact-finding committee tomorrow.
CJP expressed anger over Rehman’s explanation and said that Pakistan has resources to conduct investigation in foreign countries.
CJP Umar Ata Bandial further asked that why the final report has not been submitted to Supreme Court as it has been a long time since the fact-finding committee has returned to Pakistan.
The Chief Justice ordered Additional Attorney General to submit report of fact-finding committee by today.
Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial also ordered the government to register the FIR of Sharif’s murder in Pakistan to conduct the fair investigation into the matter.
The court had issued notices to the interior secretary, foreign secretary, information secretary, director generals of Federal Investigation Authority (FIA), Intelligence Bureau, and president of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists.
Notably, a few days ago former Prime Minister Imran Khan wrote a letter to the Chief Justice of Pakistan to probe the murder case of senior journalist Arshad Sharif.
The statement issued by PTI informed that Imran Khan wrote a letter to CJP for an independent judicial commission to probe the murder of Arshad Sharif.
Sharif was killed on the night of October 23 in Kenya by the Kenyan GSU officers in mysterious circumstances as he was being driven to Nairobi.
The Kenyan police contradicted its statement by first saying that Sharif was killed in a case of mistaken identity, but later it alleged that shots were fired at the police from inside Sharif’s car and he was killed when the response unit fired back.
