ZAB reference Zardari urges CJP to expedite hearing

KHUDAYAR MOHLA & NAVEED BUTT

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari has written a letter to the Chief Justice of Pakistan, requesting him to expedite the hearing of presidential reference in Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto case as a larger bench is now available.

Some well-placed sources told Business Recorder that the President on Saturday wrote a letter to the Supreme Court. Through that letter, the President said that the case of presidential reference for revisiting former Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s murder trial had been pending for the last five months for which a date may be fixed for an early hearing.

“The Supreme Court has been requested through a letter drafted from Presidency for an early hearing of the Bhutto reference which would unfold the facts,” President’s spokesman Farhatullah Babar told Business Recorder.

He categorically stated that every verdict of the SC would be implemented in letter and in spirit, adding that the present regime believed in rule of law and it would continue to support the administration of justice.

The SC adjourned the hearing of the presidential reference for an indefinite period on the request of Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) on June 30. The AJP had sought more time to prepare arguments in relation to questions of law.

An eleven-member bench of the apex Court, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, heard the presidential reference.

The AGP was directed to assist the bench on the questions of law to arrive at a decision in accordance with constitutional provisions.

It is worth mentioning that during a hearing the Chief Justice observed that the president had filed the reference by exercising his right and now it was duty of the court to look into the matter and arrive at a right conclusion.

However, the AGP told the bench that certain fundamental rights were violated and a fair trail was denied to ZA Bhutto, adding that the death warrants of the former prime minister were repeatedly issued and the execution also took place in violation of rules and regulations.

The CJP remarked that the bench was thankful to President Zardari for sending to SC the reference, but at the same time reputation of the court was at stake, as the entire world was observing the reference proceedings.

The Chief Justice had also remarked that the case was not of an ordinary person but of a man of international repute, the case must not be decided in a haphazard manner.