Hearing on Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto reference continues, proceedings broadcast live

After 11 years, the hearing on the presidential reference related to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s execution has started in the Supreme Court, which is being telecasted live. A 9-member larger bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Qazi Faiz Isa is hearing the reference related to the former prime minister.

The larger bench also includes Justice Sardar Tariq Masood, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Aminuddin, Justice Jamal Mandukhel, Justice Mohammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Hasan Azhar Rizvi and Justice Musrat Hilali.

Former President Asif Zardari, Chairman People’s Party Bilawal Bhutto along with senior leaders of People’s Party are present in the court room on the occasion of the hearing.

The Chief Justice said that we have granted the request for direct proceedings of the hearing, the Attorney General said that the Zulfikar Ali Bhutto hanging case was last heard in 2012.

Chairman People’s Party Bilawal Bhutto applied to be a party, Farooq H. Naik said that I will represent Bilawal Bhutto, Chief Justice said that you can be heard as an heir and also as a political party.

Earlier, in the declaration issued by the Supreme Court, it was said that the hearing of the presidential reference will be broadcast live on the website of the Supreme Court and the YouTube channel.

The ongoing statement said that the live court proceedings will be broadcast on this YouTube channel and website.

It should be noted that yesterday, former Foreign Minister and Chairman People’s Party Bilawal Bhutto filed a request in the Supreme Court to broadcast live the hearing on the presidential reference against the execution of his grandfather Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.

The petition was filed by lawyer Farooq H. Naik on behalf of Bilawal Bhutto. It was stated in the petition that the presidential reference was filed on behalf of my father Asif Ali Zardari.

Bilawal Bhutto’s position was adopted that Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was sentenced to death on the charge of conspiracy to murder, Zulfiqar Bhutto was hanged, which was the worst fall of justice in the country’s history.

It was argued in the petition that Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was hanged but his ideology is still alive today, he fought for the rule of law all his life, hanging Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto is a stain on the entire judicial system.

It should be remembered that the presidential reference on the Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto murder case was scheduled for hearing this month after 11 years in the Supreme Court last week.

Former President Asif Ali Zardari filed a presidential reference in the Supreme Court in April 2011.

So far 6 hearings have been held in the Supreme Court on the presidential reference related to Zulfiqar Bhutto.

The first hearing on the Presidential Reference was held on January 2, 2012, while the last hearing was held on November 12, 2012.

The first 5 hearings on the presidential reference were conducted by an 11-member larger bench of the Supreme Court headed by former Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, while the last hearing was conducted by a 9-member larger bench.

The presidential reference on former Prime Minister Zulfiqar Bhutto is based on 5 questions, the first question of the presidential reference is that the trial of Zulfiqar Bhutto’s murder was in accordance with the basic human rights listed in the constitution?

The second question is whether the decision of the Supreme Court to sentence Zulfiqar Bhutto to death will be applicable to the Supreme Court and all High Courts under Article 189 as a judicial precedent. If not, what will be the consequences of this decision? The third question is whether it was a fair decision to sentence Zulfikar Ali Bhutto to death. Was the decision to sentence Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto to death not biased?

In the fourth question, it has been asked whether the death sentence given to Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto is correct in the light of Quranic orders. While the fifth question is whether the evidence given against Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and the statements of the witnesses were enough to convict him?