ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court started hearing of the longstanding presidential reference that aims to reconsider the contentious 1979 death sentence given to former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.
A nine-member larger bench, led by Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa, is scheduled to convene at 11:30 am for this crucial reference.
PPP top leaders Asif Zardari and Bilawal Bhutto are also present in the court to watch proceedings of the case.
The reference, initiated by former President Asif Ali Zardari on April 2, 2011, invokes Article 186 (1 and 2) of the Constitution, allowing the president to seek the Supreme Court’s opinion on matters of public importance. This plea questions the validity of Bhutto’s death sentence, invoking the court’s advisory jurisdiction.
Earlier, the court decided to broadcast live hearing of the case.
Previously heard by an 11-judge panel in January 2012 under then-Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, the reference seeks to revisit the Lahore High Court’s 1978 ruling, which sentenced Bhutto to death.
The subsequent split verdict by a seven-judge Supreme Court bench during the era of military rule under Gen Ziaul Haq in March 1979 upheld this sentence.
Ahead of these proceedings, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has approached the apex court, requesting live streaming of the hearings.
Through his lawyer Farooq H. Naek, Bilawal emphasized the significance of transparency, aiming to showcase his grandfather’s ideologies and address what he views as a stain on Pakistan’s judicial system.
Expressing expectations for the court to unveil all involved parties in the “crime,” Bilawal highlighted the inability to bring back the deceased but urged the courts to deliver justice to rectify the past.
