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ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court will take up on Friday a hurriedly moved petition by SCBA president Asma Jehangir on behalf of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) requesting the setting up of a high-powered judicial commission to investigate the killing of a journalist.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Tariq Parvez and Justice Amir Hani Muslim will hear the case that may also settle a controversy involving appointment of the commission without consultation with the chief justice.The three-page petition was filed by Ms Jehangir after the commission announced by the government in the wee hours of Thursday to probe the murder of journalist Saleem Shahzad who worked for an online publication, Asia Times, became contentious with Justice Saqib Nisar of the Supreme Court refusing to head it.
Succumbing to the demands of a sit-in organised by the journalist community outside the Parliament House, Information Minister Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan had announced the formation of the five-member commission headed by Justice Saqib Nisar.
The formation of the commission raised questions when Justice Saqib Nisar declined to head it without the consent of the chief justice.
Ms Jehangir is of the opinion that direct appointments made by the executive of sitting judges to a commission without taking the chief justice into confidence seriously undermines the independence of judiciary.
