ISLAMABAD: Chairperson of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Tuesday requested the Supreme Court to allow him to become a party in a pending reference seeking to revisit the 1979 controversial death sentence handed down to former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

“Applicant’s grandfather Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (ZAB) was brutally executed in consequence of a stroke of a pen,” the 10-page application drafted by Farooq H. Naek stated, adding that his (ZAB) life cannot be brought back by a similar stroke but his dignity and valour can be restored and reflected correctly to some extent in the books of precedents and legal history of this country.

“At the end of the day, the applicant before this esteemed Court is a ‘Nawasa’ fighting for the cause of his ‘Nana’,” the application stated.

Former president Asif Ali Zardari has moved a reference under Article 186 of the Constitution which was pending before an 11-judge special bench to seek court’s opinion on revisiting the 1979 conviction to ZAB, which critics call a ‘judicial murder’.

Says he wants to apprise SC of material facts which led to the ‘unjust and brutal judicial murder’ of his grandfather

The last time the hearing took place by the Supreme Court was in January 2012 when it had temporarily suspended licence of Advocate Babar Awan, pleading the reference, to practice law in the court. It also asked for replacement of the counsel with another counsel to represent Asif Zardari and while admitting that this was indeed one of the most important cases in the history of this court had also decided to resume further hearing when the former president nominates another counsel.

On Tuesday, Mr Bhutto-Zardari stated in the application that throughout his life ZAB wanted to uphold the rule of law and his motto of ‘Roti, Kapra aur Makan’ was a testament to his yearning that every man gets his fair due.

It was a loud cry echoing the chords of justice that “let justice be done though the heavens may fall,” the application argued, adding that this passion of the applicant’s grandfather, however, did not derail the irony that was to befall him.

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto: Pakistan's most divisive political leader

The spirit of justice that ZAB so admired, was nowhere to be found when he himself was adorned with the noose of injustice, the application stated, adding that ZAB was charged, convicted of conspiracy to commit murder, sentenced and executed on the testimony of an approver in the greatest miscarriage of justice that was ever to befall this country.

The application argued that his grandfather was hanged but his ideology remained and for years to come the applicant’s family had to deal with the 1979 case.

“It is a blot not just on the history of the family but a wretched stain on the entire judicial system of Pakistan and remains so till date. It is in order to remove this stain and correct the wrong in history that the applicant has preferred the instant application of impalement as a party to the captioned reference,” the applicant contended.

Mr Bhutto-Zardari is now the heir to the trust and confidence that the people of Pakistan had reposed in his grandfather, the application stated, adding that the applicant was currently the chairman of PPP and was representing the desires of his family, the Jialas of PPP and the people of Pakistan in general.

“The applicant wants to apprise this Court of material facts which led to the unjust and brutal judicial murder of his late grandfather.”

The applicant has seen the worst in his life. His grandfather was hanged; both his paternal uncles were murdered. His mother, whose lap was God’s cradle for him, was martyred in a gun and bomb attack while displaying her passion to help the people of Pakistan.

“It is pertinent to mention that justice has not been dispensed in any of the cases above. So much sacrifice for this country itself warrants that the applicant be heard regarding the real facts and circumstances of the case surrounding the brutal and unlawful execution of his grandfather,” the application said.

Published in Dawn, October 10th, 2018