- CJP Bandial takes Suo Motu notice three days after Imran Khan’s letter
- Arshad Sharif was killed in Kenya on the night of October 23 in a case of “mistaken identity.
- Interior, foreign, information secretaries, FIA, IB DGs, PFUJ president summoned by SC.
Islamabad: In a major development, Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial Tuesday took suo motu of the “brutal killing” of senior journalist Arshad Sharif.
A press release issued by the Supreme Court read: “The journalist community in the country and the public at large are deeply distressed and concerned about the death of the senior journalist and are seeking the court’s scrutiny of the matter.”
The development came three days after PTI Chairman Imran Khan wrote a letter to CJP Bandial, asking him to conduct an independent judicial inquiry into the killing of Sharif.
The statement said that the CJP, in this regard, issued notices to the interior secretary, foreign secretary, information secretary, director generals of the Federal Investigation Authority (FIA), Intelligence Bureau (IB), and president of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ).
Headed by Chief Justice Umar Atta Bandial, a five-member larger bench of the Supreme Court will hear the case today (Tuesday) at 12:30 pm.
The killing of Arshad Sharif
Arshad Sharif was shot dead in Nairobi, Kenya, in October, which the Kenyan police described as a case of “mistaken identity”.
Journalist Arshad Sharif shot dead in Kenya; confirms wife
Since the killing of Arshad Sharif, many in Pakistan, including Imran Khan-led PTI, had been urging the Supreme Court to take suo motu notice of the “target killing”. They claimed that Arshad was forced to leave Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates — where he had stayed for a short time before heading to Kenya. The Foreign Office has, however, dismissed these claims.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had also announced that a judicial commission would be formed to probe the matter and subsequently wrote to the CJP about his request.
The slain journalist’s mother had also written to the CJP on November 2, requesting the formation of a high-powered judicial commission to investigate the murder.
