The Supreme Court of Pakistan hearing the Zainab rape and murder suo-motu case at Lahore Registry formed a new Joint Investigation Team (JIT) to probe claims of Shahid Masood’s claims.
A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Saqib Nisar began the proceedings by taking up Shahid Masood’s allegations.
The court then ordered the formation of a new joint investigation team (JIT), headed by Federal Investigation Agency Director General Bashir Memon, to investigate the anchorperson’s claims.
During the hearing the chief justice asked Shahid Masood.”You said there is evidence of 37 accounts, please present it,”
Shahid Masood claimed that there’s a coverup and the court to inquire from the police where the victim was kept before being killed.
“Your statements are based on hearsay,” the chief justice remarked.
The CJP remarked that he saw Shahid Masood’s show at midnight and called him next morning. “What you said [in your show], you have failed to prove [in court],”
“The accounts you mentioned don’t exist. Give evidence and I’ll present you a certificate of honesty,” the chief justice remarked.
The chief justice warned Shahid Masood that he would not be allowed to go anywhere and be placed on the Exit Control List.
The court had also summoned today the heads of several news organisations as well as senior journalists, who are assisting the court with regards to the anchorperson’s claims and the media’s code of conduct.
Zainab was kidnapped on January 4 in Kasur and found five days later from a garbage pile.
The post-mortem revealed Zainab had been raped and murdered.