RAWALPINDI:  The Rawalpindi Bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday sought record of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto’s murder case from a special trial court which has been hearing the case for the last five years.

A two-member bench of the LHC, comprising Justice Ali Baqar Najfi and Justice Mazaahir Ali Naqvi, was hearing a petition filed by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) seeking orders for the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) to hear the case on daily basis.

The court also issued notices to counsels for all the accused in the murder case to appear before it on February 13.

Senior public prosecutor of the FIA, Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali, pleaded that the former Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairperson was assassinated on Dec 27, 2007 and it was regrettable that trial of this high profile case could not be completed even after passage of five years.

He contended that a trial court, under the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1997, is bound to hold daily hearing of cases for their quick disposal.

The FIA in its petition had pleaded that the counsels for all the accused were using delaying tactics to linger on the case, which is evident from the fact that not even a single case of 2007 is pending in the ATC-I except this high-profile case.

The petition also mentions the murder case of former Punjab Governor Salman Taseer, which it says was decided in just ten months.