Bilawal moves SC seeking live streaming proceedings on reference against Bhutto’s death sentence

PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Monday approached the Supreme Court of Pakistan to seek live streaming of proceedings on a presidential reference aiming to revisit the controversial death sentence awarded to former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, through his lawyer Farooq H. Naek, filed a petition in the top court on Monday requesting that the hearing of the case should be “live/on-air” so that the entire country could hear it.

“The reference was filed by the then president of Pakistan namely Asif Ali Zardari, who is the father of the present applicant, hence, the applicant is the son of Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto and the grandson of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, who was the founder of the Pakistan People’s Party and a great leader of unprecedented scale, calibre, and character,” the plea stated.

A nine-member larger bench of the Supreme Court led by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa will take up the presidential reference regarding revisiting former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s murder case judgement on December 12.

The plea seeking live streaming of the hearing stated that Bhutto was a “man who arose from the masses, he worked for them, he led them, gave his life for them and till this day lives in their hearts”.

It added that throughout his life, Bhutto wanted to uphold the rule of law.

“His motto of ‘roti, kapra, and makan’ was a testament to his yearning that every man gets his fair due. It was a loud cry echoing the chords of justice, that ‘Let Justice be done though the heavens may fall’,” it stated.

“This passion of the applicant’s grandfather, however, did not derail the irony that was to befall him. The spirit of justice that he so admired, was nowhere to be found when he was adorned with the noose of injustice.

“He was charged, convicted of conspiracy to commit murder, sentenced and executed on the testimony of an approver in the greatest miscarriage of justice that was ever to befall this country,” the plea said.

It added that Bhutto’s ideology remains intact to date and his sentence “is not just on the history of the family but a wretched stain on the entire judicial system of Pakistan and remains so till date”.

“It is to remove this stain and correct the wrong in history that the applicant has preferred the instant reference to bring on record the reality of the life of his grandfather, hence, the applicant wants the hearing of this case, should be live/on Air, so that the whole Pakistan can hear it and this would be transparent for everyone,” the application said.

It subsequently prayed that permission be granted for the live broadcast of the said reference, which will be heard tomorrow.

“This would meet the ends of justice,” the plea added.

The reference was filed by former president Asif Ali Zardari on April 2, 2011, to seek the court’s opinion — under its advisory jurisdiction — on revisiting the controversial death sentence awarded to former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in 1979.

According to Supreme Court Registrar Jazeela Aslam, the nine-member bench will include Justice Sardar Tariq 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.