The Supreme Court on Wednesday observed that the trial under the 1979 judgment that sent former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto to the gallows did not meet the requirements of a “fair trial and due process”.
Headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, a nine-judge bench announced its much-anticipated opinion on the long-pending presidential reference to answer whether it can revisit its verdict, that PPP and jurists regard as a historic wrong.
The proceedings were broadcast live on the Supreme Court’s website and YouTube channel.
The reference filed in April 2011 on behalf of former president Asif Ali Zardari sought an opinion under the Supreme Court’s advisory jurisdiction on revisiting the death sentence awarded to the PPP founder.
Announcing the unanimous opinion today, CJP Isa said, “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.”
The SC acknowledged that there had been “some cases in our judicial history that created a public perception that either fear or favour deterred the performance of a duty to administer justice in accordance with the law”.
“We must therefore be willing to confront our past missteps and fallibilities with humility, in the spirit of self-accountability, and as a testament to our commitment to ensure that justice must be served with unwavering integrity and fidelity to the law,” Justice Isa said.
“We cannot correct ourselves and progress in the right direction until we acknowledge our past mistakes,” he added.
The CJP stated that the SC was empowered to render an opinion on any “question of law” of public importance under Article 186 of the Constitution.
While the apex court voiced its opinion, it ruled that the verdict of Bhutto’s death sentence could not be changed as the Constitution and law did not allow so, and it would be maintained as a verdict. A detailed opinion will be issued later by the SC.
As the opinion was read out, the late Bhutto’s grandson, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari — clad in a black shalwar kameez and dark blue jacket — solemnly stood alongside his lawyer Farooq H. Naek and Raza Rabbani, and could be seen wiping his face with a handkerchief.
He later emerged from the courtroom with sunglasses on and briefly spoke to reporters. The PPP chairman called the court’s decision “historic”, adding that they were awaiting the detailed verdict.
He hoped that, 44 years later, the SC’s decision would allow Pakistan to progress, and that the “system” would finally be put on the right path.
“The stain of this decision made it difficult for the people of Pakistan to have faith in the court, and get justice from this court, especially if someone like the prime minister did not get justice,” Bilawal said. He thanked the judges and amici curiae for hearing and fighting the case.
Case history
In March 1979, nearly two years after the Bhutto’s government’s ouster by the then military dictator Gen Ziaul Haq, a seven-judge SC bench, in a split four-three verdict, upheld the Lahore High Court’s verdict awarding death sentence to the former premier.
During the closing of the reference hearing on Monday, CJP Isa had observed that the court would announce a short order on the reference in a couple of days after consultation since one of the bench members, Justice Sardar Tariq Masood, is retiring soon.
Ahmed Raza Qasuri, on whose complaint the murder case was registered against former PM Bhutto, pointed out that the court had not crossed the hurdle of admissibility of the reference and feared that any opinion by the apex court would open up the floodgates of references inundating the court with a tsunami of cases like the Jan 13 denial of ‘bat’ symbol to the PTI.
More to follow
from The Dawn News - Home https://ift.tt/vh9ob2B
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