Kasuri objects to impartiality of 7 out to 10 amici curiae: CJP Anwar's son files application

One of the amici curiae in ZAB reference case, former Justice Tariq Mehmood, on Monday withdrew himself from the court proceedings in response to an objection raised by Ahmed Raza Kasuri, son of Nawab Mohammad Ahmed Khan. The Nawab's murder led to ZAB's execution.
In his reply, Kasuri had questioned the impartiality of seven of the 10 amici curiae - appointed by the SC to assist it in the reference, saying they could be friends of the court, "but certainly not friends of the complainant (Kasuri)." Kasuri stated that Abdul Hafeez Pirzada, Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim, Aitzaz Ahsan, Abdul Latif Afridi, Zahoorul Haq, Ali Ahmad Kurd and Tariq Mehmood had a strong leaning and unstinted loyalty towards Bhutto.
"In view of the apprehensions shown by Ahmed Raza Kasuri, I express my inability to assist the Honourable Court in the matter - it is accordingly, prayed that I may be relieved from the assignment," Tariq Mehmood submitted a written request before the bench.
But Aitzaz Ahsan insisted that he would like to continue to render his assistance to the bench pertaining to the case in hand by setting aside his political affiliations with PPP. The bench asked Ahsan to continue to assist the SC as an amicus curiae.
Meanwhile, Azizullah filed an application before the bench to become a party in the ZAB reference. He is the son of Chief Justice of the SC Justice Anwarul Haq, who headed a bench of four members that upheld with a split verdict the Lahore High Court decision of capital punishment to Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.
On the occasion, the CJP directed the federation's counsel, Babar Awan, to present any precedent favouring reopening of the already decided case. Upon which, Awan contended that the SC could also set a new precedent in the case by reopening the matter.
Awan also citied a case from India to substantiate his argument and contended that a case may be reopened if judges' prejudice had been proven. An 11-member bench of the Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry has been hearing the presidential reference on the murder trial of ZAB. During the course of hearing, the Chief Justice observed that only those parties that had a direct connection with the case were competent to approach the bench in the matter.
Kasuri's complaint had implicated ZA Bhutto in the conspiracy to kill his father Nawab Mohammad Ahmed Khan. In a four to three split verdict, a seven-judge SC bench had upheld the Lahore High Court's verdict of awarding death sentence to ZA Bhutto in March 1979 during the rule of the then army chief, General Zia-ul-Haq, who had come to power after he overthrew the PPP government in July 1977. The hearing was adjourned till January 3 (today).