SC judge raises questions over ZA Bhutto presidential reference
CJP Isa dispels speculations over bench formation saying "one senior member did not want to be a part of bench"
December 12, 2023
ISLAMABAD: Justice Mansoor Ali Shah of the Supreme Court on Tuesday raised questions over a 12-year-old presidential reference seeking to review the death sentence awarded to Pakistan People Party (PPP) founder and former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.
During a hearing of the reference by a larger bench led by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, the SC judge sought assistance in determining the questions of law, observing that the court had already dismissed the appeal against its verdict which had also achieved the finality.
“The Supreme Court can’t hear another appeal on the matter. How can we rehear the matter that had been closed?”
The nine-member larger apex court bench also includes Justice Sardar Tariq Masood, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Aminud Din Khan, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, and Justice Musarrat Hilali.
Former president Asif Ali Zardari, on April 2, 2011, approached the apex court through a presidential reference under Article 186 of the Constitution to seek its opinion on revisiting the trial of the PPP founder.
Previously, an 11-member larger bench of the apex court, headed by former chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, had conducted five hearings on the presidential reference — whose last hearing was held on November 11, 2012.
Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Usman Awan represented the federal government in the reference, while Farooq H Naek appeared on behalf of the PPP chief who has applied to become a party in the matter.
Advocate Ahmed Raza Kasuri, the man who had lodged the first information report (FIR) against the former prime minister, also appeared before the bench and requested the CJP to hear his arguments in the case as well.
"Every legal heir has the right to be heard," the CJP responded to his request.
The court proceedings of the reference were broadcast live on the official website and the YouTube channel of the Supreme Court.
The decision to fix the instant case was made under Section 2(1) of the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act, 2023, by a three-member committee comprising CJP Isa, Justice Masood and Justice Ijaz Ul Ahsan.
Court appoints 9 amici curiae
Following the initial hearing of the case, the top court also appointed nine more amici curiae (friends of court) — Justice (retd) Manzoor Malik, Advocate Khawaja Haris, PPP Senator Raza Rabbani, Advocate Khalid Javed, Barrister Salahuddin Ahmed, Advocate Faisal Siddiqui, Zahid Ibrahim and Yasir Qureshi and Barrister Salman Safdar — to assist it in criminal and constitutional aspects of the case.
The SC said legal experts Makhdom Ali Khan and Ali Ahmed Kurd had already been appointed as amici curiae.
The top court in its order also directed Geo News to submit a record of late PM Bhutto’s interview and video clips.
The apex court asked the amici curiae to explain what kind of opinion is required from the court in the presidential reference and discuss its maintainability.
The SC adjourned the hearing of the case till January 2024 and announced holding a day-to-day hearing on the reference from next month.
“No adjournment will be granted when the hearing starts in January,” the top court order stated.
Bench constitution
At the outset of the hearing, the CJP dispelled the speculations over the constitution of the larger bench hearing the reference.
He said none of the members part of the current bench hearing the reference were judges when the presidential reference was filed, and neither of them had ever heard the matter at any stage.
“You may even wonder over the constitution of this bench,” the CJP said adding that the bench was formed by the judges' committee in line with the Practice and Procedure law.
“[…] let’s not speculate on everything. This chief justice has relinquished powers, and now the matter is decided by the committee..one senior member did not want to be part of this bench,” he added.
'Important day for PPP'
PPP leaders including Asif Zardari, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and Sherry Rehman have also arrived at the top court to attend the hearing.
Speaking to the media outside the SC, Rehman said an important day for the PPP has finally come after many years.
"Qazi Faez Isa has fixed this case for hearing, better late than never," she added.
The PPP chairman Monday moved the Supreme Court of Pakistan seeking a live broadcast of the reference.
Bilawal, in his civil miscellaneous application, had urged the court to allow the live telecast of the hearing "so that the whole of Pakistan could hear it".
The PPP chairman had also voiced his expectation from the chief justice to "rectify constitutional mistakes".
"The whole nation knows Quaid-e-Awaam was innocent [...] The nation has to be informed who were the facilitators behind [Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's] murder," Bilawal said during a political gathering in Kohat district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) on Sunday.
"We hope that justice would be done with the history," he added.
