Chief Justice of Pakistan has said that the execution of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto cannot be reversed now but the Supreme Court can give a decision that will become a precedent for future, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa expressed these remarks while hearing the presidential reference on Monday seeking to revisit the controversial death sentence awarded to former prime minister and PPP founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in 1979 by the then Supreme Court.
A nine-judge larger bench headed by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa and comprising Justice Sardar Tariq Masood, Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhel, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi and Justice Musarrat Hilali heard the case.
Today’s hearing
During the hearing, judicial assistant Makhdoom Ali Khan started giving his arguments. He said that unfortunately, we could not reverse the decision of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s death sentence. But the question before the court is not the execution of the order regrading Bhutto’s death sentence, rather it’s a matter of stigma on the court, the lawyer said adding that the basis of the reference was an interview of former Justice Naseem Hassan Shah.
The Chief Justice remarked that Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's execution could not be reversed now. “The issue before us is the reputation of the judiciary and political history. The Supreme Court can give a decision that will become an example in the future,” the top judge said.
Justice Mazhar said that if the court did something in this case, does it have to be done in every case?
Meanwhile, Ahmad Reza Kasuri came to the rostrum, but the Chief Justice stopped him from speaking and directed the judicial assistant to continue speaking, asking Kasuri to write down if he had any objections against him.
Continuing the arguments, Makhdoom Ali Khan read Syed Sharifuddin Pirzada's letter and said that Zulfikar Bhutto's sister had filed a mercy appeal before the President, Bhutto himself did not file any mercy appeal. He said that Bhutto was given the death sentence in a split 4-3 verdict.
On the instructions of the Chief Justice, the TV interview of former Justice Naseem Ali Shah was played in the courtroom. He said that the court is currently looking at the honour of a person and the correctness of history. The court wants to set a better example, he added.
Justice Mansoor Ali Shah said that the only point is that at that time the judiciary was not independent, how did we get into the discussion that the bench was not independent?
Justice Yahya Afridi said that an interview of one judge could not give an impression about the entire court that the judiciary was not independent then, there were other judges who wrote their notes and disagreed.
The Chief Justice of Pakistan said that the opinion of a judge could not be ignored in this case, the ratio of the bench in the Bhutto case was such that the opinion of a judge was also important. .
Meanwhile, Ahmed Raza Kasuri said that former Justice Naseem Hasan Shah has written the entire incident in his book, on which the Chief Justice asked him to find the relevant part and not waste the court's time. Kasuri said that if he was under pressure from what was written in the book, he would have resigned.
The Chief Justice told Kasuri that he should not explain to the court what is to be read. He said there is not a complete story in this interview.
Lawyer Farooq H Naek said that the original programme has been removed from YouTube. The Chief Justice told the lawyer that he should copy the data of the relevant channel, watch the entire interview and give the court the relevant part, the court would now listen to judicial assistant Makhdoom Ali Khan.
Lawyer Makhdoom Ali Khan said that this decision is an abuse of justice, on which the Chief Justice said, "Is the Supreme Court guilty in this? Or the prosecution and the then martial law administrator?”
Justice Musarrat Hilali said that in her view they should correct the history, the stigma has not been applied to a family but has also applied to institutions. To this, Makhdoom Ali Khan said that she was absolutely right.
The Chief Justice asked what if this case should be heard after the elections. Farooq Naek said that as far as his opinion is concerned, the case should be heard soon.
Justice Jamal Khan said that two elections have already passed.
Naek said that the court should hear the assistants first, then Attorney General, myself and Raza Rabbani should be heard.
Later, the Chief Justice started writing the order for today's hearing.
The order said that Raza Rabbani has told the court that Sanam Bhutto, Asifa Bhutto and Bakhtawar Bhutto are representing Zardari. Zahid Ibrahim is representing Fatima Bhutto and Zulfiqar Jr. The Bhutto reference case will be heard after the general elections.
The court said that other cases including election cases are pending in the Supreme Court and it is appropriate to hear this case after the general elections.
Later, the court adjourned the hearing of the case till the third week of February.
The reference
Former president Asif Ali Zardari filed the reference in April 2011.
Yesterday, the Pakistan Peoples Party submitted a written response to the Supreme Court in the presidential reference.
PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari filed a 108-page response to the court through his lawyer Farooq H Naek, according to which the death sentence to ZAB was awarded on a false charge under duress.
Along with the reply, the USB and CD of the interview of former chief justice Naseem Hassan Shah and its Urdu and English transcription were also attached.
The latest previous hearing of the case by the same bench was held on December 12, 2023 which was adjourned till January. PPP lawyer Farooq Naek appeared in the court, while the federation was represented by Attorney General for Pakistan Mansoor Usman Awan. The AGP told the court that the case was last heard in 2012.
The bench which had heard the presidential reference for the first time was comprised former CJP Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and now-retired judges namely Javed Iqbal, Mian Shakirullah Jan, Nasirul Mulk, Muhammad Said Ali, Mahmood Akhtar Shahid Siddiqui, Jawad S. Khawaja, Anwar Zaheer Jamali, Khilji Arif Hussain, Sarmad Jalal Osmany and Ghulam Rabbani.
The reference was filed on behalf of former president Asif Ali Zardari on April 2, 2011, to seek an opinion on revisiting the death sentence awarded to former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto under the Supreme Court’s advisory jurisdiction.
The reference was filed before the top court under Article 186 (1 and 2) of the Constitution, which empowers the president to refer any question of public importance to the Supreme Court to seek its opinion on an issue.
In a split verdict by four to three, a seven-judge Supreme Court bench had upheld a Lahore High Court verdict of awarding the death sentence to the former prime minister in March 1979 during the regime of military dictator Gen Ziaul Haq, who had overthrown the PPP government in July 1977.
On Nov 11, 1974, an FIR was lodged after the assassination of Nawab Mohammad Ahmed Khan implicating former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto for a plot to assassinate a political opponent Ahmad Raza Kasuri at the Police Station Ichara under Sections 120-B, 302, 109 and 301 and 307 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).
However, the case against ZAB was closed in 1975 after the inquiry report of Justice Shafiur Rehman Commission but the case was revived against him in 1977.
The Commission led by senior Justice Shafiur Rahman investigated and authored the inquiry papers at the behest of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in 1992.
Immediately after its submission, the report was quickly classified by the Prime Minister, and very few details were available to the public. In 2011, the government declassified only a few and earliest portions of the report and made it publicly accessible, but large parts of the papers are kept as secret.
Reporter Amanat Gishkori