Arshad Sharif | Pakistan

The Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) on Wednesday wondered whether it could continue proceedings in the murder case of journalist Arshad Sharif, as the suo motu powers invoked by the Supreme Court while taking up the case had been curtailed after the 27th Amendment. The question was raised by a two-judge FCC bench, headed by Justice Aamer Farooq and also including Justice Rozi Khan, as it took up the murder case. Sharif was shot in the head when Kenyan police opened fire on his car on the outskirts of Nairobi on Oct 23, 2022. He had left Pakistan in August 2022 after multiple cases of sedition were registered against him in different cities. The suo motu case for an independent and transparent probe of the murder was initially taken up by a five-member SC bench in December 2022. After the passage of the 26th Amendment, it was heard by a six-member constitutional bench of the SC. However, after its formation under the 27th Amendment, the FCC was granted jurisdiction over both constitutional and suo motu case...

ISLAMABAD - The Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) on Wednesday directed the federal government to submit a detailed progress report on the investigation into the murder of senior journalist Arshad Sharif.

The Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) on Friday fixed a date for the Arshad Sharif murder case, where the request for an independent probe into the killing would be heard. Prominent journalist Sharif was shot in the head when Kenyan police opened fire on his car in October 2022. He had left Pakistan in August 2022 after multiple cases of sedition were registered against him in different cities. The suo motu case was taken up by a six-member constitutional bench headed by Justice Aminuddin Khan in the Supreme Court. However, after the passage of the 27th Amendment and the formation of the FCC, it was granted jurisdiction over both constitutional and suo motu cases. On Friday, the FCC cause list showed that a hearing had been scheduled for December 3, with the attorney general, the Islamabad inspector general of police (IG), and the foreign secretary among other respondents. It will be heard by a two-member bench comprising Justices Aamir Farooq and Rozi Khan Barrech, regarding an “independent and transparent ...

Riffat Ara Alvi, the mother of slain journalist Arshad Sharif, passed away on Sunday, according to her family. Arshad, a prominent journalist who was awarded the Pride of Performance in 2019 by then-President Arif Alvi, was shot dead in Kenya on October 24, 2022. Politicians and media bodies demanded a probe into his death, but the lack of progress in the investigation has been decried by the Supreme Court and media. “Arshad Sharif’s mother, who was demanding justice for her son, has passed away,” the deceased journalist’s wife, Javeria Siddique, posted on X today. In a subsequent post, she said Riffat’s funeral prayers would be held today at the “H-11 graveyard [in] Islamabad at 9pm”. Siddique, herself a journalist, in 2023 published a piece for Dawn.com on her husband’s death in which she called for an “independent, impartial, and immediate investigation” to ensure justice for Sharif. “Everyone is watching, and yet, justice only seems to become more and more elusive,” she said in the article. Condolences po...

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday disposed of petitions calling for the establishment of judicial commission to investigate the murder of journalist Arshad Sharif, ruling that the matter was already sub judice before the Supreme Court. Justice Raja Inaam Ameen Minhas delivered the judgment on three consolidated petitions filed by journalist Hamid Mir, the Judicial Activism Panel, and Sharif’s widow, Javeria Siddique. The petitioners sought a federal government-initiated judicial commission for a “transparent inquiry” into the circumstances surrounding Sharif’s departure from Pakistan, his stay in Dubai, and his murder in Kenya in October 2022. They argued that the current investigation by a Special Joint Investigation Team (SJIT) was flawed and violated constitutional rights to a fair trial and due process. Deputy attorney general, representing the state, countered, stating that the Supreme Court was actively supervising the case following its suo motu intervention. He stressed that procedur...

ISLAMABAD - The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Tuesday once again reserved its verdict in a petition seeking court’s directions for the constitution of Judicial Commission to probe the death of Arshad Sharif (late).

ISLAMABAD - The Islamabad High Court (IHC) will today conduct hearing in a petition seeking court’s directions for the constitution of a judicial commission to probe the death of late journalist Arshad Sharif.