The Supreme Court told the law, information and interior secretaries on Friday to file their comments by June 20 over the progress made so far in the investigation of the murder of journalist Saleem Shahzad, as the Pakistan Army brushed aside the notion that it was resisting any probe into the incident and supported the formation of a judicial commission.
A spokesman for the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) voiced concerns about what he called “unfounded and baseless insinuations” in a section of the print and electronic media against the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) with regard to Shahzad’s murder.
“Such negative aspersions and accusations were also voiced against the ISI in some previous cases but investigations proved them wrong,” the spokesman said. He strongly supported the formation of a commission to investigate the murder as well. “The case must be investigated thoroughly and facts made known to the people,” he said.
The government had formed a five-member commission on Thursday, appointing SC judge Justice Saqib Nisar its head. However, the judge refused to head the commission saying that he would only accept this responsibility if approved by the chief justice of Pakistan (CJP). The government had not consulted the CJP before appointing Justice Nisar, which gave credence to the suspicion that the government deliberately wanted to create a controversy probably to hush up the matter allegedly involving the ISI.
Earlier, a three-member Supreme Court bench, comprising CJP Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Tariq Parvez and Justice Amir Hani Muslim heard a petition filed by the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) under Article 184(3) of the constitution seeking formation of a high-powered judicial commission under an apex court judge to probe the murder. The petition filed late on Thursday night made the federal secretaries of law, information and interior respondents.
During the preliminary hearing on Friday, the court said a powerful commission would be formed to probe the matter after receiving para-wise comments of the respondents.
The court told the inspectors general of Punjab and Islamabad Police to appear in-person on June 20 along with complete details of progress made so far in the murder investigation. The court also told the attorney general and Punjab advocate general to assist it in the matter. Appearing in court on behalf of the PFUJ, Supreme Court Bar Association President Asma Jehangir and lawyer Munir A Malik argued that the provision for consultation with the CJP was inbuilt in the Commission of Inquiry Act of 1956.
They said the commission formed by the government to probe the murder was against the independence of the judiciary since neither the CJP nor Justice Nisar was consulted. They said the record of the last telephone calls of Shahzad had been erased, which could only be done by a powerful agency.
They said a noted journalist had been abducted and killed and if the government and the judiciary did not pay heed to such incidents, freedom of expression would be destroyed and journalists would not be able to perform their duties under constant threat. They said whenever a journalist unveiled wrongdoing they were silenced with murder, which was a very dangerous practice. They said the judiciary should ensure the protection of the people’s rights.
The CJP noted that 74 journalists had been killed and attempts were made to stop the flow of information to the public, which was against the fundamental rights of the people.
He said the court would examine the matter thoroughly. He inquired whether the case of abduction and killing Shahzad had been registered. Asma said the case had been registered in Islamabad, however Punjab Police was conducting the investigation.
To a court query, she said Shahzad was abducted from Islamabad, thus the case was registered in Islamabad. She said on May 29, Shahzad was mysteriously abducted and police found his dead body from a canal in Mandi Bahauddin the next day. She said Shahzad’s body, which bore marks of brutal torture, was identified on May 31 and the postmortem report verified the facts. PFUJ President Pervez Shaukat, National Press Club President Afzal Butt and notable journalists Hamid Mir, Absar Alam and Naseem Zehra were also present in the courtroom.
The petitioner PFUJ requested the court to pass appropriate orders for the protection of fundamental rights of the petitioner organisation and journalists so that they could perform their professional duties without fear. Asma, Malik and Shaukat told reporters after the proceedings that they were confident in the judiciary and hoped that the petitioner would get justice. To a query, Asma said she suspected the ISI of erasing the calls records of Shahzad, since only the agency could receive phone records from telecommunication companies.
