ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The Supreme Court of Pakistan has declared that requirements for a fair trial and due process were not met in the murder trial of the former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.
A nine-member bench of the Apex Court headed by the Chief Justice Qazi Faez Issa said this in its opinion regarding the Presidential Reference about the matter.
The bench said that proceedings of the trial by the Lahore High Court (LHC) 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 independent Fundamental Right under Article 10A of the Constitution.
The Court, however, said that the Constitution and the law do not provide a mechanism to set aside the judgment whereby Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was convicted and sentenced.
In its opinion regarding a question asked in the reference, the court said it cannot reappraise the evidence and undo the decision of the case.
However, the Court, in its detailed reasons, shall identify the major constitutional and legal lapses that had occurred with respect to fair trial and due process.
