On December 12, a nine-member larger bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, is scheduled to consider the presidential reference regarding a review of the judgment in the murder case of former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.
The bench comprises Justice Sardar Tariq Masood, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Aminud Din Khan, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, and Justice Musarrat Hilali, as per information from Supreme Court Registrar Jazeela Aslam.
In 2011, then-President Asif Ali Zardari submitted a presidential reference under Article 186 of the Constitution of Pakistan, seeking the Supreme Court’s opinion on revisiting the trial of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) founder.
The last hearing of the reference occurred on November 11, 2012. Babar Awan, who is now associated with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), previously served as the federal government’s counsel in the case. However, his law practice license was suspended on January 17, 2012, for criticizing the court’s order in the Memogate case.
PPP’s counsel Aitzaz Ahsan was absent in the last hearing due to his attendance at the funeral of late Iqbal Haider, a party stalwart and senior advocate of the apex court.
The history of the case dates back to 1978 when Bhutto was declared guilty of the murder of Nawab Muhammad Ahmad Khan Kasuri. He was sentenced to death, and the Supreme Court upheld the decision on February 6, 1979. Bhutto was hanged on April 4, 1979. The PPP filed the reference for reopening Bhutto’s trial in 2011, 32 years after his execution, while it was in power.
It’s noteworthy that the Supreme Court’s judgment on Bhutto’s hanging has not been cited as a precedent by judges in subsequent cases.
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