The Supreme Court (SC) appointed new amici curiae on Tuesday as it took up, after 11 years, the presidential reference seeking to revisit the contentious trial of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

The case was heard by a nine-member larger bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, and comprising 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 of the case were broadcast live.

At the outset of the hearing, CJP Isa regertted the delay in fixing the presidential reference, observing that this was “the oldest pending remaining presidential reference”.

The amici curiae (impartial adviser to court) have been appointed to assist the court on different aspects of the case, especially the maintainability of the reference. As for the criminal aspect of the case, the SC has sought legal assistance from SC judge Manzoor Malik.

Considering that majority of the previous court advisors have now passed away, the bench appointed ex-Attorney General for Pakistan (ACP) Khalid Jawed Khan, Barrister Salahuddin Ahmed, Salman Safdar, Khawaja Haris and Faisal Siddiqi as the new advisors.

Read PPP asks SC to declare Bhutto’s execution a ‘judicial murder’

Makhdoom Ali Khan and Ali Ahmed Kurd, previously appointed amici curiae, expressed the willingness to continue to assist the bench.

The lawyers representing the PPP in this case objected to the SC appointing advocates Safdar and Siddiqi as the court’s advisors. However, the objection was shot down by the top court. The bench observed that it was up to the court who it appoints as its advisors.

Responding to a query of the top court’s bench, AGP Mansoor Awan said that since he had not received any instruction to withdraw the presidential reference therefore, he will pursue it.

Senior advocate Farooq H Naek appeared on behalf of PPP chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who had earlier on moved an application to become party to the case.

Raising pertinent questions, Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah asked the counsels to assist the court on the maintainability of the reference.

Justice Shah observed that the matter had already attained finality as a review petition filed in the case had been dismissed, stating that the court had no jurisdiction to hear a second review petition. “How do we re-open this case,” he asked.

During today’s proceedings, Ahmad Raza Kasuri, the first complainant against ZAB, requested the bench to adjourn the hearing until after the upcoming elections in February.

However, the SC adjourned the hearing until next month (January), asking all amici curiae to submit their written statements by the next hearing.

The bench will hear the case on a daily basis from next month.

PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari among other senior party leaders also attended today’s proceedings.

Last hearing

On April 2, 2011, then-president Asif Ali Zardari approached the apex court through a presidential reference under Article 186 of the Constitution of Pakistan to seek its opinion on revisiting the trial of the PPP founder.

The last hearing of the reference took place on November 11, 2012.

Babar Awan, who has now joined the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), had earlier appeared as the federal government’s counsel in the case and had given lengthy arguments. However, on January 17, 2012, Awan’s law practice license was suspended for criticising the court’s order in the Memogate case.

In the last hearing, PPP’s counsel Aitzaz Ahsan could not appear because he had travelled to Karachi to attend the funeral of late Iqbal Haider, a party stalwart and a senior advocate of the apex court. Accepting the five preliminary questions of law regarding revising the case, the apex court on April 21, 2011, nominated several legal experts as ‘amicus curiae’ or friends of the court, to assist it over the issue. A few of the amici have now passed away.

On January 2, 2012, the Supreme Court also issued notice to Ahmed Raza Kasuri, the man who had lodged the first information report (FIR) against the PPP founder. Kasuri, in his reply, had opposed the reopening of the case arguing that the president was an “interested party”.

History of the case

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who took over as president of Pakistan immediately after the fall of Dhaka in December 1971, and later became the prime minister after the 1973 Constitution, was removed from the government through the martial law imposed on July 5, 1977, led by military dictator Gen Ziaul Haq.

Read more Bilawal consults legal minds on ZAB reference

On September 3, he was arrested in the case of March 1974 murder of Nawab Muhammad Ahmad Khan Kasuri. He was released 10 days later, after a court found the charges against him “contradictory and incomplete”. He was rearrested on the same charges and arraigned before the Lahore High Court (LHC).

On March 18, 1978, Bhutto was declared guilty of the murder, and was sentenced to death. The decision was challenged in the Supreme Court and on February 6, 1979. The top court voted 4-3 to issue a guilty verdict and upheld the high court decision.

On March 24, 1979 the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal and Gen Zia upheld the death sentence. Bhutto was hanged at the Rawalpindi Central Jail on April 4, 1979 and was buried at his family mausoleum in Garhi Khuda Baksh.

On April 2, 2011, 32 years after Bhutto’s trial and execution, the PPP, then the ruling party, filed the reference for reopening of Bhutto’s trial.

It is important to mention that the apex court judgement on the hanging of Bhutto has never been referred to as a precedent by the judges in any case.