ISLAMABAD: The Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) on Friday scheduled a hearing in the Arshad Sharif murder case, where a request for an independent investigation into the journalist’s killing will be taken up.
Arshad Sharif, a prominent Pakistani journalist, was shot dead in October 2022 when Kenyan police opened fire on his vehicle. He had left Pakistan two months earlier after multiple sedition cases were registered against him across the country.
The case was initially taken up suo motu by a six-member Supreme Court bench led by Justice Aminuddin Khan. However, following the passage of the 27th Constitutional Amendment and the establishment of the FCC — which now holds jurisdiction over constitutional and suo motu matters — the case was transferred to the new court.
According to Friday’s cause list, the FCC will hear the matter on December 3. Respondents summoned include the attorney general, the Islamabad inspector general of police, and the foreign secretary, among others.
A two-member bench comprising Justice Aamir Farooq and Justice Rozi Khan Barrech will preside over the proceedings, focusing on ensuring an “independent and transparent investigation” into Sharif’s killing in Kenya.
In August last year, then–chief justice Qazi Faez Isa clarified that the case was not fixed before a five-judge larger bench because it did not involve constitutional interpretation. Later, in July 2024, the Supreme Court referred the matter back to the three-judge committee constituted under the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act, 2023 to re-fix it before a five-judge bench — a step overtaken by the FCC’s assumption of jurisdiction.
