ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the government to form a new joint investigation team (JIT) comprising intelligence officials to probe the killing of journalist Arshad Sharif in Kenya.

A five-member larger bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Umar Ata Bandial directed this while hearing a suo-motu case on the killing of senior journalist Arshad Sharif. The court directed that the JIT should include officials from the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), the Intelligence Bureau (IB), the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and the police.

The court directed the government to issue a notification and inform it about the members of the JIT by tomorrow (Thursday), adding that the probe should be conducted by senior officers. The court also directed that the members of the JIT should also be experts in understanding the case and gathering evidence from other countries. The court asked the foreign affairs ministry to assist the JIT in collecting evidence abroad. It said that help of international agencies including the UN should be sought for investigation into the killing.

The CJP said the court has not constituted a judicial commission as it is a criminal case. He said the investigation should begin from Khurram and Waqar, the two men Sharif was in contact with in Kenya. The CJP noted that the court wanted an independent team to investigate the issue, adding that the court did not want any member to have connections with any influential person, who may influence the investigation.

The government on early Wednesday had constituted a five-member JIT to probe the killing of Arshad Sharif following registration of the first information report (FIR) on the court’s Tuesday’s order. Inspector General Police Islamabad constituted the JIT on early Tuesday and named Deputy Inspector General Police (Headquarters) Islamabad as its Chairman. The court, however, rejected this JIT and ordered for new one.

During the hearing, the CJP said that the report of the government’s formed fact-finding committee that visited Kenya was provided to the court at 1:00am by the Interior ministry. The CJP directed the government to seek cooperation from the Kenyan government. He said the journalist was brutally murdered. He said some witnesses of the case were in Pakistan.

Additional Attorney General Aamir Rehman read the fact-finding committee’s report on the murder. He stated that the report had been provided to Sharif’s family. Later, the hearing was adjourned till tomorrow (Thursday).