Supreme Court resumed Zulfikar Bhutto presidential reference after 11 years

The Supreme Court on Tuesday (today) started hearing the presidential reference against the death sentence of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

The reference was first filed by then president Asif Ali Zardari in April 2011 under Article 186 (1 and 2) of the Constitution. The reference had its last hearing in November 2012 by then CJP Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.

In today’s hearing, PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari,Co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari and other senior party leaders were also present in court.

A nine-member larger bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, consisted of 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.

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In the today’s proceedings (via live broadcast) the Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Usman Awan read out loud the presidential reference.

The CJP Isa, first expressed regret at the Supreme Court not taking up the case earlier because we have a policy now of first in first out unless there is some urgency in a particular case.

The court decided to appoint new amici curiae (friends of court) for the case as most of the amici curiae had either passed away or recused themselves.

Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah asked about maintainability of the case under Article 186.The Article 186 states that the president can obtain the opinion of the apex court on any question of law he considers of public importance — needed to be articulated before the SC.

CJP Isa said constitutional questions were involved in the reference and the court would require two kinds of assistance — constitutional and criminal.

Ahmad Raza Kasuri, the first complainant against ZAB, requested the bench to adjourn the hearing until after the upcoming elections in February. To which, the CJP replied that the reference was heard after 11 years, so the court could not adjourn the matter indefinitely.

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The bench discussed the names of the Mr Yasir Qurreshi, Mr Zahid Ibrahim, Mr Salauddin Ahmed Mr Faisal Siddique, Khalid Javed Khan, Khawaja Harris, Salman Safdar and Justice (rtd) Mansoor Malik as amicus curie (friend of court), depending upon the consent of these names.

Makhdoom Ali Khan and Ali Ahmed Kurd, previously appointed amici curiae, expressed the willingness to continue to assist the bench. Senior advocate Farooq H Naek appeared on behalf of PPP chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.

The hearing was adjourned till the second week of January 2024. The bench will hear the case on a daily basis from next month depending on the availability of the judges.