ZA Bhutto case: PPP gears up for ‘retrial of the century

ZAB reference case: Cabinet approves legal questions for ‘trial of the century’
Published: April 21, 2011
ZA Bhutto during his days of incarceration under the reign of Gen Ziaul Haq. PHOTO COURTESY: PPPUSA.ORG
ISLAMABAD:
The federal cabinet approved a set of five questions of law that the government will submit to the Supreme Court for its opinion in the Zulfikar Ali Bhutto reference case filed by President Asif Ali Zardari.

Information Minister Firdous Ashiq Awan told the media on Wednesday that the questions would now be part of the reference filed by President Zardari under Article 168 of the constitution. The apex court, during the hearing of the reference, had asked the government’s counsel, former law minister Babar Awan, to frame specific questions on which the president wanted to seek the court’s opinion.

Awan will be submitting the set of questions before the court today (Thursday) when it will resume the hearing.

The information minister said that the cabinet had invited Babar Awan in its special meeting so he could brief it on the legal and constitutional aspects of the reference as well as the proceedings before the Supreme Court. Awan informed the cabinet that the Supreme Court’s proceedings were progressing satisfactorily.

The objective of the reference, the counsel said, was to correct for the statutes and legal history what he – and the president – view as an error in judgment because a “judicial murder” of the chairman of a premier political party and founder of the country’s constitution had been committed.

The information minister said that Babar Awan had also highlighted the international significance and history of such high profile cases before the Cabinet.

She said that it was the objective of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) to get the superior judiciary to undo the wrong that Bhutto had been subjected to.

As far as the political victimisation of the PPP is concerned, the masses have made up for it by voting the PPP back into power time and again, she added.



Published in The Express Tribune, April 21st, 2011.


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Govt adamant on change of lawyer in NRO case, SC told
Govt adamant on change of lawyer in NRO case, SC told The attorney general says, government did not budge from its point despite best efforts.




The federal government has stuck to its point on the replacement of lawyer in the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) review case. In his statement in the court, the attorney general of Pakistan submitted that despite his best efforts, the federal government did not budge from its stance. The proceeding has been adjourned for two weeks.



Earlier on Monday, a 17-member bench of the Supreme Court took up the review petition on the NRO. As the hearing started, former advocate-on-record Raja Abdul Ghafoor told the court that the Federal Law Ministry had stopped him from pleading the case.



Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry remarked that on one occasion the government lawyer is changed and on the other, the advocate-on-record. If the federal government has no confidence in the attorney general, additional attorney general or Kamal Azfar, then who else there it trusts in, the CJP remarked.



The CJP said that in the absence of a government lawyer and advocate-on-record, the matter of NRO review could be finished.




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By Rauf Klasra
Published: April 13, 2011
ZA Bhutto during his days of incarceration under the reign of Gen Ziaul Haq. PHOTO COURTESY: PPPUSA.ORG
ISLAMABAD:
As the country braces for what could be a tumultuous reopening of one of the darkest chapters of its history, the government has appointed Law Minister Dr Babar Awan as the lawyer for Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s retrial case which starts today (Wednesday) in the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

An expressive Awan pledged that he will quit from his ministerial post if it becomes a hurdle in the way of his pleading the case, which he dubbed the “(re)trial of the century”. Receiving written orders from the authorities, Awan was on Tuesday officially notified by the law ministry as the legal representative to appear before the apex court today.

President Asif Ali Zardari had sent a reference last week seeking the retrial of the ZA Bhutto case, which culminated in a long-debated guilty verdict over three decades ago – ultimately resulting in the hanging of the country’s first elected prime minister in 1979. The presidential reference contended that the late party chairman was not given justice and that the courts today should correct this.

The Pakistan Peoples Party government is throwing its entire political weight behind the case, and is set to pull all stops to demonstrate how important the matter is to them.

Awan is to be assisted by the attorney general and deputy attorney generals, secretary law Masood Chisti and a number of other lawyers.

In a late-night meeting at the Prime Minister House, it was also decided that a total of 60 high-level leaders will accompany the law minister to the Supreme Court building. The leaders will include federal ministers as well as representatives from the Senate, National Assembly, the four provincial assemblies and Gilgit-Baltistan.

The contingent of 60 leaders will gather for breakfast at the Parliament House on Wednesday morning, from where they are to march towards the Supreme Court building. For this purpose, the leaders have already arrived in Islamabad. Those that are expected to turn up for proceedings of the case will include Chairman Senate Farooq Naik, Speaker National Assembly Dr Fehmida Mirza, Chief Minister Sindh Qaim Ali Shah, Chief Minister Balochistan Lashkar Raisani and Speaker Sindh Assembly Nisar Khuhro.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Law Minister Dr Babar Awan confirmed his appointment as lawyer in the ZA Bhutto case. “Yes, I have been conveyed this officially, and will file the papers [to this effect] in the court on Wednesday”.

When questioned how he could fight the case as the serving law minister, Awan replied that he would inform honourable judges that the president, who had sent the reference, had now appointed him, but added that, if anyone raised objections, he would immediately tender his resignation from his post.

“For me, it’s a great honour to be the lawyer of ZAB in his retrial [as compared to] staying a federal minister, because it’s the trial of the century”, said Awan emphatically. He recalled that ZA Bhutto’s daughter, the late prime minister Benazir, had once said to him that the case’s verdict might have been different if he (Awan) had contested it.

“You don’t just defend your client, you actually wage war for his or her right in the courtroom”, Awan quoted Benazir as telling him during one of her case hearings in the mid ’90s.

Sources privy to the consultations in the lead-up to the case said that there was plenty of discussion on who should be sent to the court to fight the case, which is being given tremendous importance by the ruling party. The top leaders, including the president, are said to have chosen the name of the law minister Awan – who had actually penned the presidential reference.

“Whether the ZAB case should be reopened or revisited – this is the question which will be raised in the Courtroom No 1 today,” said a senior lawyer.

A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry is to take up the case. Justice Muhammad Sair Ali and Justice Ghulam Rabbani are the other members of the bench.

Law Ministry sources told The Express Tribune that the government legal team is likely to point out the statement of Justice (retd) Nasim Hassan Shah, who reportedly confessed that there was immense pressure on judges who awarded death penalty to ZAB.

(With additional input by Zahid Gishkori)


Published in The Express Tribune, April 13th, 2011.

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ZA Bhutto reference: President has not asked a specific question, says CJ
By Qaiser Zulfiqar
Published: April 15, 2011
PPP leaders Babar Awan, Qamar Zaman Kaira and Raja Parvez Ashraf speak to journalists after the case hearing. PHOTO: INP
ISLAMABAD:
President Asif Ali Zardari has not framed a specific legal question in his reference to the Supreme Court requesting a re-examination of the death sentence against former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, said Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on Thursday.

At a preliminary hearing to review the three-decade-old case, the chief justice pointed out that there were three separate court decisions against the former prime minister and President Zardari has not specified which one he would like to have re-examined.

“No one can deny the importance of the case but the question of law is very important,” said the chief justice.

Article 186 of the constitution authorises the president to refer any legal matter to the Supreme Court for its opinion, obliging the apex court to respond. The chief justice acknowledged the court’s constitutional responsibility during the course of the day’s hearings.

Meanwhile, former law minister Babar Awan sought permission to present arguments on behalf of the president after informing the court that the Pakistan Bar Council had renewed his licence to practice law and that he had tendered his resignation from the cabinet, which the acting president had accepted. The court had earlier objected to a cabinet minister appearing on behalf of the federation in the case, saying that it was against the law for him to do so.

Awan accepted that the question was not framed correctly. He then proceeded to argue that former chief justice Syed Naseem Hasan Shah, then a justice on the apex court, admitted in his autobiography – titled “Memoirs and Reflections” – that the verdict against former Prime Minister Bhutto was delivered under pressure from then-President General Muhammad Ziaul Haq.

Awan also cited evidence from two other books, including Bhutto’s own “If I am assassinated”.

The chief justice suggested books of his own, recommending “The Leopard and the Fox” by Tariq Ali.

Justice Sair Ali asked Awan whether the advice of the prime minster was sought on the specific question of the law. Awan replied that the whole cabinet was given a briefing before filing the reference and it was unanimously decided to file the reference and it was later sent to the prime minster for endorsement.

The chief justice asked Awan to read the summary sent to the prime minister and observed that no question of law was placed before him.

The court then adjourned further hearings on the case till April 18, asking Awan to take the time to frame an acceptable legal question for the court to consider.


Published in The Express Tribune, April 15th, 2011.