Pak SC launches probe into anti-graft official's death

Pakistan Supreme Court today launched a probe into the mysterious death of an investigator, who was probing corruption charges against Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf, and issued notices to several senior officials.

A two-judge bench issued notices to the Chairman of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), the Islamabad Police Chief and the Medical Superintendent of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences to provide information regarding the death of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) investigator Kamran Faisal.

Notices were also issued to NAB Chairman Fasih Bokhari and other senior officials of the anti-graft agency.

The bench directed authorities to provide footage from CCTV cameras at Federal Lodges, the government hostel where Faisal was living, footage of his body, the autopsy report and a record of the police investigation into his death.

The judges directed PTA to submit records of Faisal's mobile phone calls.

The bench also questioned the Islamabad Police Chief why an FIR had not yet been lodged regarding Faisal's death.

The police chief said an FIR could not be registered as there was no applicant in the case.

Justice Khilji Arif Hussain, a member of the bench, observed that police could itself register an FIR if a crime had been committed.

The bench said its proceedings would determine whether Faisal was murdered or if he had committed suicide after being pressured by his superiors.

The bench subsequently adjourned the case till January 28.

Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry yesterday converted a note on Faisal's death from the Supreme Court Registrar's office into a Constitutional petition and asked the two-judge bench to inquire into the matter.

Faisal was probing corruption allegations against Prime Minister Ashraf and other senior political figures.

He was found hanging from a fan in his room in a government hostel last Friday.

Though an interim autopsy report concluded Faisal had apparently committed suicide, his family and colleagues disputed the findings and demanded a probe by a serving judge of the apex court.

The government has set up a judicial commission headed by a retired judge to probe the matter.