SC sets Dec 12 to hear Zulfikar Ali Bhutto murder reference

The Supreme Court of Pakistan has set a December 12 date to hear Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s murder reference!

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 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.

It is pertinent to mention here that the last hearing of the reference took place on November 11, 2012.

Babar Awan, who is now a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) member, had earlier appeared as the federal government’s counsel in the case and had given lengthy arguments.

However, on January 17, 2012, Babar Awan’s law practice licence was suspended for criticising the court’s order in the Memogate case.