The Supreme Court on Monday ordered an inquiry against three Sindh High Court judges who were unable to decide an application for pre-arrest bail filed by a murder suspect despite the passage of three years.

In what was the first case heard by the top court via e-Court, a system based on video-link connectivity, a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa also approved the pre-arrest bail application of suspect Noor Mohammad.

The court was informed during the hearing that a murder case was registered against Mohammad at Shahdadpur police station in 2014. The suspect had subsequently approached the Hyderabad circuit bench of the SHC for his pre-arrest bail in 2016.

Chief Justice Khosa observed that as per the statements of eyewitnesses, the murder was committed by unidentified persons and the suspects nominated in the case were not involved in the killing.

Also, he remarked, the local police "displayed mala fide intent while investigating the case". Justice Khosa noted that two other suspects in the case have already been granted bail.

While granting the bail plea filed by Mohammad, the chief justice ordered the registrar of the Supreme Judicial Council to conduct an inquiry into the delay in deciding the bail application.