ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar on Friday constituted a special two-member bench to hear journalist Zeeshan Butt’s murder case.
Butt, a print journalist associated with a Lahore-based newspaper, was murdered on March 27 in the Union Council (UC) office of Samaryal tehsil of Sialkot. His family had accused UC Chairperson Imran Cheema, who is at large.
The apex court, on April 4, rejected a report it had sought on the murder from Punjab Inspector General of Police (IGP) Arif Nawaz Khan. The report was submitted by the Sialkot police.
The court also summoned the Punjab IGP and advocate general for the case, to be heard by the bench in the Supreme Court’s (SC) Lahore registry on Saturday.
The journalist had visited Cheema’s office in Sambrial tehsil on March 27 to inquire about taxes levied on shop owners in Begowala Union Council, according to an audiotape of his last telephonic conversation.
Following a harsh exchange of words between the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) affiliated Cheema and the journalist, the latter was issued death threats from Cheema — verified by the audiotape of the journalist’s telephonic conversation with District Council Chairperson Hina Arshad Waraich.
The journalist, who had called Waraich to complain against Cheema’s death threats, did not get a chance to complete his conversation. The sound of three shots allegedly fired at Butt during the conversation, were clearly audible in the recording.
The journalist succumbed to injuries received from firing within Begowala UC office premises – the site of the incident. Butt’s family had demanded justice from the authorities, who have yet to arrest the accused.
Reportedly, the deceased and the accused had a prior enmity as well after they contested municipal elections against one another.