SC to take up Arshad Sharif suo motu case next week

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Friday fixed suo motu case of senior journalist Arshad Sharif’s assassination for hearing on May 9, ARY News reported on Wednesday.

A five-member larger bench led by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Umar Ata Bandial will conduct the hearing on the case next week.

Other members of the bench are Justice Ijaz-ul-Ahsan, Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail and Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar.

The five-judge SC bench had initiated suo motu proceedings to ensure transparent and independent investigation into the journalist’s murder.

In previous hearing, the apex court hinted at forming a judicial commission in the murder of senior journalist Arshad Sharif.

The counsel of Arshad Sharif’s family Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui had raised objections to the court proceedings, saying that the Supreme Court can monitor and investigate matter cases related to basic rights but cannot monitor the investigation of JIT.

The court said that Attorney General informed the court about the bilateral cooperation from the Kenyan side but they did not respond on the legal cooperation with the Pakistani officials.

Arshad Sharif’s assassination

The senior journalist and former ARY News anchor, was killed in Kenyan capital Nairobi on October 23 where he was living in self-exile.

Kenyan police first said that Arshad Sharif was killed in a case of “mistaken identity” but since the seasoned journalist’s post-mortem and his body’s transfer to his home country, several Kenyan news outlets have not only questioned the police’s conduct but have raised questions over the manner in which he was killed.