Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, the founding chairman of the People’s Party was hanged on April 4, 1979 in the Central Jail of Rawalpindi by order of the Lahore High Court after the Supreme Court of Pakistan rejected the review petition.
After 44 years of this court decision, the Supreme Court of Pakistan is going to hear a presidential reference on the Bhutto case on Tuesday. The last hearing of this presidential reference, which was filed in 2011, was conducted 11 years ago by an 11-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, after which this reference seemed to have been forgotten.
It seems from the sources that this time this case will not end up in the cold room again without reaching any conclusion.
The Presidential Reference filed against Bhutto’s conviction is a unique case in our judicial history, which has no precedent. Perhaps as unique as Bhutto’s judicial sentence decision, which is seen as unique in Pakistan’s judicial system till date.
The most fundamental question before the court in the Bhutto case is whether Article 186 of the Constitution on a judgment passed by the Supreme Court, in which the last available option of revision in accordance with law has been exercised. Can further revisions be made under ?
If the Supreme Court decides to lift this heavy stone and declare this reference admissible, it will be a unique event in the judicial history of Pakistan that after nearly half a century, one person has given against the other. The court will indict itself this time on the decision and will come to a conclusion in the light of the evidence while examining the evidence against its own institution.
Once it has been declared admissible, the decision steps may not be that complicated.
Those familiar with the Constitution and the law know that Bhutto’s death sentence is the only judgment in Pakistan’s history in which capital punishment has been imposed for aiding and abetting, but which has since been followed as a legal precedent by any court in Pakistan. did not
This decision was never seen as a judicial decision in the legal circles of Pakistan. Even if a lawyer mentions this decision during the hearing, the bench ignores it as if there is no such precedent.
So this time, if the court indicts itself and the court has to review the decision of Bhutto case, it will be difficult for the court to acquit itself this time.
What is Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto reference?
Bhutto’s court-ordered execution is a judicial reference filed in 2011 by then President Asif Ali Zardari under Article 186 of the Constitution of Pakistan.
According to Article 186 of the Constitution of Pakistan, the President of the State can refer the matter to the Supreme Court for opinion at any time if he feels that there is a need to obtain an opinion from the Supreme Court on a question of public importance.
After considering the question, the Supreme Court will send its opinion to the President.
Questions asked in Ref
The presidential reference on Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s sentence is based on five questions.
The first question asked in the presidential reference is that the hearing of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s murder was in accordance with the basic human rights listed in the constitution.
Second, whether the decision of the Supreme Court to sentence Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto to death is applicable to the Supreme Court and all High Courts under Article 189 as a judicial precedent? If not, what will be the consequences of this decision?
The third question is whether Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s death sentence was a fair decision. Was the decision to sentence Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto to death not biased?
The fourth is whether the death sentence given to Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto is correct in the light of Quranic orders.
In the fifth and last question, it is asked whether the evidence given against Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and the statements of the witnesses were sufficient to convict him.
The background of this reference being heard in the Supreme Court is also very interesting as it relates to the specific circumstances of that time. This was the period when there was a clamor for the arrival of the Sultanate Republic everywhere and the voices of erasing every trace of military dictatorship as a trace were being raised.
When the then President Asif Ali Zardari filed a judicial reference against Bhutto’s court-ordered death sentence, almost all traces of dictatorship had been erased from the Constitution of Pakistan through the 18th Amendment.
In the past, General Pervez Musharraf, who was elected president in uniform with the support of the Supreme Court, was forced to resign from his post.
It was also the first time in the history of Pakistan that the parliament that came immediately after the lifting of martial law avoided giving legal justification to the decrees of martial law.
For the first time, the country’s highest court dismissed dozens of High Court and Supreme Court judges in a landmark judgment over the recognition of martial law orders. At that time, all the major parties in the country seemed to be almost in agreement that the legal and constitutional remnants of the military dictatorships should be thrown out of the country.
In such a situation, a presidential reference was filed under the advisory authority of the Supreme Court by the head of the country using the powers given in Article 186 of the Constitution.
This section contains related reference points (Related Nodes field).
Reference hearing and suspension of license of Dr. Babar Awan
When this presidential reference was filed, it was initially heard by a three-member bench headed by Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry.
Initially, this reference was welcomed by the Supreme Court. On behalf of the President, Law Minister Dr. Babar Awan expressed his desire to pursue this case.
His pursuit by the court was made conditional on his license to advocate in the Supreme Court, so Dr. Sahib immediately agreed to it and resigned from the ministry the next day and entered his advocacy in the case.
An 11-member larger bench was constituted for the hearing.
It seemed that the court decision on the Bhutto case was going to be trashed soon, suddenly the Memogate scandal broke out in the country and the political atmosphere changed completely. The tension between the government and the Supreme Court increased to such an extent that several government lawyers, including the President’s lawyer Dr. Babar Awan, were issued contempt notices in the case, which suspended the license of Dr. Babar Awan in the last hearing of the presidential reference. But it ended.
After that, barrister Aitzaz Ahsan filed a letter of attorney to appear on behalf of the president in this case, but after that the case could not be heard further.
Irrespective of the legal complications, there can be no other opinion that the judicial decision to hang Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, delivered by the High Courts of Pakistan under a military dictator, is a blot on our judicial history. exists as
The Supreme Court is accorded the status of ‘Court of Final Justice’ under the Constitution of Pakistan and has unlimited powers to administer justice. If the Supreme Court wants, it can also try to wash away this stain with the decision of this presidential reference.
Note: This article is based on the personal opinion of the columnist, with which Independent Urdu does not have to agree.
#Bhutto #death #sentence #reference #44yearold #case
2024-05-01 01:30:14
