ZAB's 32nd death anniversary on April 4: reference filed in Supreme Court

The government on Saturday filed a reference in the Supreme Court, seeking a review of the death sentence awarded to former prime minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto by Lahore High Court in a murder case three decades ago. The Reference initiated by the President of Pakistan under Article 186 of the Constitution was filed by Federal Law Secretary Masood Chishti before the Registrar of the apex court.
Following initial scrutiny of the reference, the Registrar forwarded it to the Chief Justice of Pakistan for further action. The Reference was signed by President Asif Ali Zardari on Friday after it was approved by the Federal Cabinet a day earlier. Talking to journalists after filing the reference, Masood Chishti said that the Registrar's office did not raise any objection over filing of the reference in Supreme Court.
Senior Advisor of Law Ministry, Chaudhry Arif, said that bias in the decision to hang Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was obvious as the nature of the case did not fall into criminal category. Hence, he added, the president has exercised his right to file the reference. By invoking Article 186 of the Constitution, President Asif Ali Zardari is seeking the Supreme Court's opinion on the death sentence by the Lahore High Court which was subsequently upheld by the Apex Court in March 1979. Bhutto was hanged to death on April 4, 1979. Article 186 of the constitution reads: "If, at any time, the President considers that it is desirable to obtain the opinion of the Supreme Court on any question of law which he considers of public importance, he may refer the question to the court for consideration."