ISLAMABAD: After lengthy discussion on a presidential reference filed in 2011, the Supreme Court will provide an opinion on the trial, sentence, and execution of late Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto on Wednesday (tomorrow).
On Monday, a 9-member bench of the Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, reserved its opinion on the 2011 presidential reference seeking to overturn the sentence and execution of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) founder and former Prime Minister Bhutto.
Bhutto was hanged to death on April 4, 1979, following a Supreme Court verdict in a murder case that his party referred to as “judicial murder.”
Following the filing of a presidential referral, an 11-member bigger bench of the Supreme Court, led by former Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, held five hearings in the case.
The hearing was restarted by the current chief justice on December 12 following a decision by a three-member committee consisting of CJP Isa, Justice Sardar Tariq Masood, and Justice Ijazul Ahsan to schedule an immediate case under the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act of 2023.
