Apex court adjourns Zulfikar Ali Bhutto presidential reference
Pakistan
Court can give judgement on presidential reference
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) - Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa has remarked that the Supreme Court is bound to give verdict on the presidential reference.
These remarks came during the hearing of the Zulfikar Ali Bhutto presidential reference. A nine-member larger bench, headed by CJP Qazi Faez Isa, heard the case.
Justices Tariq Masood, Mansoor Ali Shah, Yahya Afridi, Aminuddin, Jamal Mandokhel, Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Hasan Azhar Rizvi, and Musarat Hilali are part of the larger bench. However, the Supreme Court (SC) adjourned the hearing of presidential reference until Tuesday.
Amicus curiae and former attorney general Khalid Javed Khan alleged that the trial of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto case wasn’t fair and filed reservations against the trial in written form. He added that a retrial wasn’t possible in the SC, but the court could declare the judgement against an unfair trial.
Justice Mansoor Ali Shah remarked that the court could not decide about the merits of Bhutto’s case but could only inspect the transparency and fairness of the trial.
Justice Qazi Faez Isa stated that the SC could give judgements on presidential references.
Khalid Javed Khan claimed that all state machinery, including the judiciary, was under the control of dictator Ziaul Haq during the presidential reference.
He added that Lahore High Court judge Aftab Ahmed declared Zulfikar Bhutto a bad Muslim. He argued that the court could not give a certificate of being a good or bad Muslim.
He also asserted that the SC had noticed the remarks about Bhutto, but it did not negate them. He said Zulfikar Ali Bhutto wouldn't have been hanged if the judges were independent and not under any pressure.
Attorney General Mansoor Awan affirmed that the constitution was abolished during martial law, and the rule of law wasn’t effective during that time.
