The amici curiae to assist the court during the hearing will be Ali Ahmed Kurd, former Justice Tariq Mahmood from Balochistan; Aitzaz Ahsan, S M Zafar and Khalid Anwar from Punjab; Abdul Hafeez Pirzada, Fakkhrudin G Ebrahim and Makhdoom Ali Khan from Sindh; and Zahoorul Haq and Lateef Afridi from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Asma Jahangir, President of Supreme Court Bar Association, was also asked for such assistance.
A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry with Justice Muhammad Sair Ali and Justice Ghulam Rabbani is seized with the presidential reference. The court also asked the attorney-general for Pakistan to include the advocates general of four provinces in the process to assist the bench. The names of judges for the larger bench will be announced later. The court also summoned the relevant record, including the FIR of ZAB case from LHC so that all the counsel could have access to it freely.
Babar Awan, representing the government in the case, read out the five questions of law, under Article 186 of the constitution, which were incorporated in the reference, seeking apex court's opinion on death sentence to ZAB. The redrafted reference was approved for hearing by the SC.
The Supreme Court on Monday asked the government to redraft the reference under Article 186 of the Constitution prior to the formation of a larger bench. On the instructions of the apex court the government redrafted the reference by incorporating the five questions of law, which was subsequently approved by the Cabinet on April 20.
Awan sought court's opinion on the question whether both LHC and Supreme Court decisions in the trial of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto met the requirements of fundamental rights as guaranteed under Article 4 sub articles (1) and (2) (a), Article 8, Article 9, Article 10A/due process, Article 14, Article 25 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan 1973. If it not, what would be the effects and consequences, he asked.
In the reference it has been asked whether the conviction leading to the execution of Bhutto could be termed a decision of Supreme Court binding on all other courts being based upon or enunciating the principle of law in terms of Article 189 of the constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan 1973. If not, what would be its effects and consequences?
The court was also asked whether in peculiar circumstances of this case awarding and maintaining of the death sentence was justified or it could amount to a deliberate murder keeping in view the "glaring bias" shown towards Bhutto. The court has been urged to give its opinion whether the decision in the case of murder trial against Bhutto fulfils the requirements of Islamic laws as codified in the Holy Quran and the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet (PBUH).
If so, whether the case is covered by the doctrine of repentance (a) Holy Quran: Sura Al Nisa verses 17&18, Sura Al Baqara verses 159,160 and 222, Sura Al Maida verse 39, Sura Al Aaraaf verse 153, Sura Al Nehal verse 119 and Sura Al Taha verse 82 as well as (b): Sunan Ibn-e-Maaja, chapter 171, Hadith no: 395 and what are the effects and consequences?
Besides, the court was also asked whether on the basis of conclusions arrived at and inference drawn from the evidence/material in the case an order for conviction and sentence against Bhutto could have been recorded. The government counsel pleaded to allow the installation of a camera for global telecast of court's proceedings in this case. The bench turned down the request, observing that the print media in the country is quite powerful and there is, therefore, no need of any camera in its presence.
The courtroom 1 was jam-packed with a large number of PPP stalwarts such as Sindh chief minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah, law minister Maula Bux Chandio, PPP secretary information Qamar Zaman Qaira, Raja Pervez Ashraf, PPP Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa president Rahimdad Khan, Sindh Assembly deputy speaker Shehla Raza, Sindh law minister Ayaz Soomro, Shazia Mari, Raja Riaz and Sussi Palejo.