Former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was executed in 1979, but the Pakistani Supreme Court claims he was not given a fair trial

Islamabad: Pakistan’s Supreme Court noted on Wednesday that former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was sentenced to death in 1979 by a seven-judge panel of the highest court during the military dictatorship of Gen. Zia-ul-Haq, who had toppled the PPP government in July 1977. Bhutto was not given a fair trial or due process.
The only time a former prime minister has been hung in Pakistani history was during Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s hanging. Zulfikar, one of the most well-liked presidents in the nation, was ousted from office by his personally chosen army head,,, Zia,,, on charges of planning the assassination of PPP founder and political adversary Ahmed Reza Kasuri. Numerous legal professionals and onlookers deemed the trial to be faulty, which made it contentious.

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was hung in Rawalpindi in March 1979 after the Lahore High Court’s decision to condemn the former premier to death was affirmed by the Supreme Court bench in a divided four-three decision. According to Dawn, the case was brought back to life on April 2, 2011, when former president Asif Ali Zardari submitted a presidential referral to the Supreme Court asking for a review of the death penalty. The PPP has achieved a personal win with the Wednesday judgment.

What was said by the Supreme Court?
A nine-judge panel led by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa unanimously found that Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s trial did not meet the requirements for a fair trial. “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,” Isa stated.

“As a testament to our commitment to ensure that justice must be served with unwavering integrity and fidelity to the law, we must therefore be willing to confront our past missteps and fallibilities with humility, in the spirit of self-accountability,” CJP Isa said.

A public view that either fear or favor prevented the fulfillment of a duty to administer justice in accordance with the law was generated by some events in Pakistan’s judicial history, the country’s highest court admitted. “Until we admit our mistakes from the past, we cannot improve and move forward correctly,” Isa said.

The Supreme Court, however, ruled that the death sentence awarded to Zulfikar could not be overturned since both the Constitution and the law prohibited it and that the decision would stand as it was. Zulfikar’s grandson, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, clothed in a dark blue jacket and black salwar kameez, stood somberly behind his attorney before the court. The PPP chairman referred to the court’s ruling as “historic” and said that they were still awaiting the full conclusion.

I hope the Supreme Court’s ruling will help Pakistan advance. Bilawal Bilawal expressed optimism that Pakistan will be able to move forward after the Supreme Court’s decision on Wednesday and that the “system” will ultimately be set straight. “The taint of this ruling made it hard for Pakistanis to trust the court and get justice from it, particularly in cases where individuals like the prime minister were not treated fairly,” he said.

The PPP chairman addressed X and said, “Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto did not receive a fair trial.” President Asif Ali Zardari dedicated his life to pursuing justice in honor of his late wife, Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto. It took three generations for our family to hear these words.”

An 11-member bench of the Supreme Court led by former Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry held five sessions in the presidential reference after the filing of the referral. After deciding to fix an immediate case under the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act, 2023, the current chief justice started the hearing on December 12, according to Geo News.