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ISLAMABAD: Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday sought a report from the government regarding the cases registered against the late journalist Arshad Sharif, Sami Abraham, and Moeed Pirzada.
He also demanded an explanation for the registration of multiple FIRs against them for a single event.
Justice Kayani was hearing the petitions of these journalists, filed in May 2022. The petitioners, including Mr Sharif, were seeking the court’s protection against the harassment by the police and law enforcement agencies.
Initially, the petitions were heard by former CJ Athar Minallah, who issued a blanket order for the protection of these journalists.
Justice Kayani resumed the hearing on Thursday and was informed that Mr Sharif faced 16 FIRs, while Mr Abraham was nominated in 13 cases. In response to the court’s query, the counsel stated that these journalists were booked in the FIRs for expressing their views through a tweet.
The judge observed that multiple FIRs for a single incident is against the law.
Consequently, he sought the record related to the cases against the mentioned journalists and adjourned the hearing till Feb 14.
Published in Dawn, January 12th, 2024
Malik Asad is an Islamabad-based reporter for Dawn with two decades of experience covering legal affairs, judicial developments, and the civil bureaucracy. He can be found on X at @asadrp.
