SC says conditions of ‘fair trial, due process’ not met in Zulfikar Bhutto’s trial

The Supreme Court on Wednesday observed that the trial under the 1979 judgment that sent former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto to the gallows did not meet the requirements of a “fair trial and due process”.

Headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, a nine-judge bench announced its much-anticipated opinion on the long-pending presidential reference to answer whether it can revisit its verdict, which the PPP and jurists regard as a historic wrong.

Headed by CJP Isa, the larger bench consisted of Justice Sardar Tariq Masood, Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhel, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi and Justice Musarrat Hilali.

The proceedings were broadcast live on the Supreme Court’s website and YouTube channel.

The reference filed in April 2011 on behalf of former president Asif Ali Zardari sought an opinion under the Supreme Court’s advisory jurisdiction on revisiting the death sentence awarded to the PPP founder.

Announcing the unanimous opinion today, CJP Isa said, “The proceedings of the trial by the Lahore High Court and of the appeal by the Supreme Court of Pakistan do not meet the requirements of the fundamental right to a fair trial and due process enshrined in Articles 4 and 9 of the Constitution, and later guaranteed as a separate and fundamental right under Article 10A of the Constitution.” A detailed opinion will be issued later by the SC.

The SC acknowledged that there had been “some cases in our judicial history that created a public perception that either fear or favour deterred the performance of a duty to administer justice in accordance with the law”.

“We must therefore be willing to confront our past missteps and fallibilities with humility, in the spirit of selfaccountability, and as a testament to our commitment to ensure that justice must be served with unwavering integrity and fidelity to the law,” Justice Isa said. “We cannot correct ourselves and progress in the right direction until we acknowledge our past mistakes,” he added.

The CJP stated that the SC was empowered to render an opinion on any “question of law” of public importance under Article 186 of the Constitution.

The chief justice said that the reference provided an opportunity to “reflect upon the proceedings of the trial, conviction and death sentence of Mr Bhutto under the regime of military dictator General Ziaul Haq”.

He recalled that the reference was filed during the government of the PPP and that the successive governments of other major political parties “carried forward this inquiry and did not opt to withdraw the reference, which included the […] caretaker government”.