SC to revisit Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's death sentence in 12-year-old

Previous Hearings & Legal Developments in Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s Case.

SC to revisit Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s death sentence in 12-year-old Presidential Reference. The Supreme Court is scheduled to reconsider the controversial death sentence handed to former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in a 12-year-old presidential reference. The nine-member larger bench, led by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, will hear the reference on December 12.

The decision to fix the case was made under Section 2(1) of the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act, 2023, by a committee comprising CJP Isa, Justice Sardar Tariq Masood, and Justice Ijazul Ahsan. Other members of the bench include Justice Masood, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Aminud Din Khan, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, and Justice Musarrat Hilali.

Former President Asif Ali Zardari approached the apex court on April 2, 2011, through a presidential reference under Article 186 of the Constitution, seeking the court’s opinion on revisiting Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s trial. The last hearing was on November 11, 2022.

In earlier hearings, an 11-member bench, led by former Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, conducted five hearings in the presidential reference. The case saw shifts, including the suspension of Babar Awan, the government’s lawyer, and adjournments due to changes in legal representation.

In a related matter, the Supreme Court has also fixed the petition of sacked Islamabad High Court Judge Shaukat Siddiqui, challenging his removal for misconduct, on December 14.