Arshad Sharif assassination case: Former judge refuses to head inquiry commission
The head of the inquiry commission on the senior journalist Arshad Sharif's assassination case, Justice Retired Abdul Shakoor Paracha refused to proceed with the investigation.
ISLAMABAD: The head of the inquiry commission on the senior journalist Arshad Sharif’s assassination case, Justice Retired Abdul Shakoor Paracha refused to proceed with the investigation.
Abdul Shakoor Paracha, a retired judge of the Lahore High Court, was appointed head of a three-member commission formed by the federal cabinet at the request of the Ministry of Defence, last month.
Justice Retd Paracha said in a statement that the reasons for his refusal included dissatisfaction and rejection of the commission by Mr Sharif’s mother and her request to the chief justice to set up a judicial commission.
He also expressed reservations over the inclusion of Intelligence Bureau (IB) Deputy Director General Omar Shahid Hamid and the absence of a representative of media bodies in the commission. Paracha added that Hamid had already visited Nairobi as part of a first team to probe the death.
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He said it was not “legally sustainable” to make Mr Hamid a part of the commission based on his previous findings. Meanwhile, Mr Paracha said a media representative was necessary so that “justice is not only served but is seen when done”, according to local media.
He expressed satisfaction with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s request for a full court commission to investigate the journalist’s killing.
Sharif was killed in Kenya’s capital Nairobi on Sunday night. Arshad Sharif is one of the renowned investigative journalists of Pakistan who covered major political events in the country for national and international media outlets.
After Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan, the family of the slain senior journalist Arshad Sharif termed his death ‘target killing’.
The federal government announced holding a judicial inquiry into the journalist’s killing case and formed a two-member committee that left for Kenya to collect evidence.
The slain journalist was laid to rest on October 27 in Islamabad.
