In a historic turns of events, the Supreme Court in its reserved opinion stated that Zulfikar Ali Bhutto did not get a chance to a “fair trial”.
Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa announced the much-anticipated opinion on the presidential reference seeking to revisit the sentence, and execution of the Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) founder and former premier Bhutto on Wednesday.
Other members of the larger bench were Justice Sardar Tariq Masood, Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhel, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi and Justice Musarrat Hilali.
The proceedings were broadcast live on the Supreme Court’s website and YouTube channel.
The reference was filed in April 2011 on behalf of former president Asif Ali Zardari sought an opinion under the Apex Court’s advisory jurisdiction on revisiting the death sentence awarded to the PPP founder.
“The proceedings of the trial by the Lahore High Court and of the appeal by the Supreme Court of Pakistan do not meet the requirements of the fundamental right to a fair trial and due process enshrined in Articles 4 and 9 of the Constitution, and later guaranteed as a separate and fundamental right under Article 10A of the Constitution,” CJP said announcing the unanimous opinion.
The court’s decision comes after nearly 12 years.
