ISLAMABAD: In a presidential reference regarding the death sentence given to former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa stated on Monday that the Supreme Court is presently considering one person’s honor and attempting to correct history “as it wants to set a better example”.
During the presidential reference hearing, the CJP stated that it was reviewing the death sentence given to the founder of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).
The larger bench of the supreme court, which is presided over by Chief Justice Isa and consists of Justices Sardar Tariq Masood, Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Yahya Afridi, Amin-ud-din Khan, Jamal Khan Mandokhel, Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, and Musarrat Hilali, began hearing arguments on the case.
On April 4, 1979, Bhutto was executed by hanging in the Rawalpindi district jail in connection with a murder case. But his party referred to Bhutto’s execution as “judicial murder.”
On April 2, 2011, by means of a presidential reference under Article 186 of the Constitution, former president Asif Ali Zardari petitioned the Supreme Court to request its judgment regarding a reexamination of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) founder’s prosecution.
On December 12, 2023, during the prior hearing, Justice Mansoor questioned the presidential reference. The SC judge asked for help in resolving the legal issues, noting that the court had already rejected the appeal against its decision, which had also reached finality.
“More appeals in this case cannot be heard by the Supreme Court. How is it possible?The Supreme Court’s official website and YouTube channel streamed live coverage of the reference’s court proceedings.
