ISLAMABAD—On Monday, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari asked the Supreme Court to live-stream the hearing of a presidential reference that will look into the murder of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.
A bigger bench of nine people, led by CJP Qazi Faez Isa, will hear the case tomorrow (Tuesday).
“The applicant wants the hearing of this case to be live or on air,” Bilawal’s plea said.
Aslam, the registrar of the Supreme Court, said that the bench was made up of 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.
In April 2011, Asif Ali Zardari, who was president at the time, asked the highest court to review the trial of the founder of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) under Article 186 of the Constitution of Pakistan. He did this by submitting a presidential reference.
The last time the case was heard was on November 11, 2012.
The case’s history
Following the fall of Dhaka in December 1971, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto became president of Pakistan. He later became prime minister after the 1973 Constitution. On July 5, 1977, General Ziaul Haq declared martial law, which removed Bhutto from office.
He was caught on September 3 in connection with the death of Nawab Muhammad Ahmad Khan Kasuri in March 1974. After 10 days, he was freed because the charges against him were “contradictory and incomplete.” The same charges were brought against him again, and he was brought before the Lahore High Court (LHC).
A court found Bhutto guilty of murder on March 18, 1978, and gave him the death penalty. The Supreme Court was asked to review the decision. On February 6, 1979, the Supreme Court voted 4–3 to find the person guilty and uphold the ruling of the high court.
The Supreme Court turned down the appeal on March 24, 1979, and Gen. Zia confirmed the death sentence. On April 4, 1979, Bhutto was hanged at the Rawalpindi Central Jail. He was buried at his family tomb in Garhi Khuda Baksh.
The ruling party at the time, the PPP, asked for a new trial for Bhutto on April 2, 2011, 32 years after she was tried and executed. A very important point to make is that the high court’s decision about hanging Bhutto has never been used as a model by judges in any other case.
