Pakistan registers FIR in journalist Arshad Sharif's killing in Kenya

Pakistan police on Tuesday registered an FIR against the killing of senior journalist Arshad Sharif in Kenya, hours after the Supreme Court directed the government to do so.

Sharif, 49, a former reporter and TV anchor with ARY TV, was shot dead at a police checkpoint at an hour's distance from Nairobi on October 23, creating a storm in Pakistan. The Kenyan police later said it was a case of "mistaken identity" during a search for a similar car involved in a child abduction case. The FIR has been registered at Ramna Police Station of Islamabad following directives by the top court to launch the report by tonight.

The complaint was lodged by SHO Rasheed Ahmed by nominating three persons, including Waqar Ahmed, Khurram Ahmed, and Tariq Ahmed Wasi.

Sections 302 (punishment for murder) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) have been included in the FIR.

Earlier in the day, a five-member bench headed by Chief Justice Bandial ordered the interior secretary to launch the FIR after the court was informed that no case was registered in Pakistan or Kenya.

''The FIR should be registered by tonight,'' Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial ordered on Tuesday after taking suo moto cognizance. The court then adjourned the hearing till Wednesday.

Sharif, known for his proximity to former prime minister Imran Khan, had fled to Kenya after he was booked on charges of sedition and peddling an "anti-state" narrative by Pakistan's security agencies earlier this year.

During the hearing, CJP Bandial wondered why the court had not yet been provided with the inquiry report by the government's fact-finding committee.

Additional Attorney General Amir Rehman assured the court that the report of the Committee, set up to probe the killing, would be submitted by Wednesday but the court demanded the submission of the report on Tuesday.

Rehman informed the court that Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah was in Faisalabad when the report was received. "The report will be handed over to the apex court once the minister examines it," he said.

The CJP then shot back, ''Does the interior minister have to make changes to the report?" He also said that the court could summon Sanaullah.

It is the government's job to investigate, not the judiciary's, Bandial asserted.

Justice Ahsan remarked that Sharif was killed in Kenya under "suspicious circumstances" and asked what action was taken by the foreign ministry. He also sought to know whether no case had been registered in Pakistan or in Kenya on the incident.

The court then asked the foreign office to submit a response to the court regarding the investigation and the registration of an FIR in Kenya.

"Journalists are the voice of truth and also a source of information," the CJP remarked.

The court was also informed that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has spoken to the Kenyan president and that the Pakistani High Commissioner in Kenya was in touch with the relevant authorities but the status of the probe by Kenya was not known.

Notices were issued to the Foreign Secretary, Information and Broadcasting Secretary, heads of the Federal Investigation Agency and Intelligence Bureau, the interior secretary and president of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists.

Interestingly, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Khan had recently written to CJP Bandial, asking him to conduct an independent judicial inquiry into the killing of Sharif.

Sharif's mother had also penned a letter to the CJP on November 2, requesting the formation of a high-powered judicial commission to investigate the murder.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)