An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Rawalpindi on Monday decided to hear the Benazir Bhutto murder case on daily basis.

The last witness in the case recorded his testimony during Monday's hearing; the discussion on the case will start from Tuesday (tomorrow). Special public prosecutors Chaudhary Azhar and Khawaja Imtiaz will resume presenting their final arguments.

Former CPO Rawalpindi Saud Aziz and former SP Khurram Shahzad, who are currently on bail as they were accused in the case, and FIA Prosecutor Chaudhry Azhar appeared before the ATC on Monday.

ATC Judge Mohammad Asghar Khan postponed the hearing of the case until Tuesday.

Rawalpindi City police station SHO Kashif Riaz on behalf of the state had filed FIR 471/2007 on Dec 27, 2007, against unknown culprits for the murder of former premier Benazir Bhutto.

Eight different judges have headed the Benazir Bhutto murder trial and the prosecution has filed eight separate challans since the proceeding started on February 29, 2008.

The four men — Abdul Rasheed, Aitzaz Shah, Rafaqat Hussain and Hasnain Gul — accused of being involved in the 2007 suicide blast that caused the death of PPP chairperson and 20 other people have also been arrested.

When the PPP formed its government in the centre in 2008, the investigation was transferred to the FIA.

The team implicated former president retired General Pervaiz Musharraf and two senior police officers Saud Aziz and Khurram Shahzad as accused in the case in 2010. Later, the court decided to prosecute Musharraf separately as he failed to appear before the court.

A public prosecutor in the case, Chaudhary Zulfiqar, was murdered when he was on his way to appear before the court for a hearing of the same case in 2013.

Opinion

Editorial

Paying the price
Updated 18 Apr, 2025

Paying the price

Pakistan is trapped in a relentless cycle of climate volatility.
Political solution
18 Apr, 2025

Political solution

THOUGH the BNP-M may have ended its 20-day protest sit-in outside Quetta on Wednesday, the core issues affecting...
Grave desecration
18 Apr, 2025

Grave desecration

THE desecration of 85 Muslim graves at a cemetery in Hertfordshire in the UK is a distressing act that deserves the...
Double-edged sword
Updated 17 Apr, 2025

Double-edged sword

While remittances have provided critical support to current account, they have also been a double-edged sword.
Besieged people
17 Apr, 2025

Besieged people

DESPITE all the talk about becoming a ‘hard’ state, Pakistan is still looking incredibly soft when it comes to...
Deadly zealotry
Updated 17 Apr, 2025

Deadly zealotry

Murdering people and attacking firms is indefensible and only besmirches the Palestinian cause.