Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was not given a fair trial: SC

In a historic turns of events, the Supreme Court in its reserved opinion stated that Zulfikar Ali Bhutto did not get a chance to a “fair trial”.

Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa announced the much-anticipated opinion on the presidential reference seeking to revisit the sentence, and execution of the Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) founder and former premier Bhutto on Wednesday.

Other members of the larger bench were 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.

The proceedings were broadcast live on the Supreme Court’s website and YouTube channel.

The reference was filed in April 2011 on behalf of former president Asif Ali Zardari sought an opinion under the Apex Court’s advisory jurisdiction on revisiting the death sentence awarded to the PPP founder.

“The proceedings of the trial by the Lahore High Court and of the appeal by the Supreme Court of Pakistan do not meet the requirements of the fundamental right to a fair trial and due process enshrined in Articles 4 and 9 of the Constitution, and later guaranteed as a separate and fundamental right under Article 10A of the Constitution,” CJP said announcing the unanimous opinion.

The court’s decision comes after nearly 12 years.

Bhutto was executed on April 4, 1979, following a verdict of the SC in a murder case that his party termed as “judicial murder”.

The CJP said that the “reference files that the president of Pakistan has provided us an opportunity to reflect upon the proceedings of the trial, conviction and death sentence of Bhutto under the regime of military dictator Gen Zia ul Haq.”

He also read the five questions raised in the reference.

He recalled that the reference was filed during the government of the PPP and that the successive governments of other major political parties “carried forward this inquiry and did not opt to withdraw the reference, which included the […] caretaker government”.

Former finance minister and late late Bhutto’s grandson, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari was present when the CJP announced the reserved opinion. He was flanked by his lawyer Farooq H. Naek and Raza Rabbani.

The PPP chairman called the court’s views “historic”, adding that they were awaiting the detailed opinion.

He hoped that, 44 years later, the SC’s opinion would allow Pakistan to progress, and that the “system” would finally be put on the right path.

“The pursuit of justice was a labour of love by President Asif Ali Zardari in the name of his wife Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto. Our family waited 3 generations to hear these words.”