PM likens SC decision over polls to ‘judicial murder’ of ZA Bhutto

• PM Shehbaz Sharif says justice was murdered today.
• He terms Supreme Court's verdict highly regrettable.
• Court has ordered holding polls in Punjab on May 14.

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday referred to the "judicial murder" of late prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and said his "murder" took place on April 4, 1979, and on the same date today, the unfortunate episode was repeated with a decision of the Supreme Court in the polls delay case.

Taking part in the National Assembly session, the prime minister equating the two decisions said today, justice was murdered and it is highly regrettable.

He said in the cabinet’s meeting, the members had demanded that a reference over the judicial murder of the late prime minister, which had been pending for the last 12 years, should be taken up and decided by the full court.

He said the world knew that Bhutto's case was a "judicial murder". One of the former judges, who had decided the case, had accepted it in his memories, he added.

The prime minister also lauded the late Bhutto and said he was among the founders of the 1973 Constitution and that his historic contribution would always be remembered. He also asked the house to pray for the departed soul of Bhutto.

A three-member bench of the Supreme Court has unanimously declared the Election Commission of Pakistan's (ECP) order to delay the election in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa "unconstitutional".

The three-member bench — led by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial and comprising Justice Munib Akhtar, and Justice Ijaz Ul Ahsan — also ordered the electoral body to hold an election in the province on May 14.

The ECP postponed the date of the election in Punjab to October 8 — initially scheduled to take place on April 30 — citing a resurgence of terror attacks, a shortage of security personnel and an unprecedented economic crisis.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), which filed the plea against the delay, has welcomed the court's decision, but the federal cabinet has rejected the verdict and Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said the legal team was preparing for the future course of action.