Pakistan chief justice calls Bhutto trial 'regrettable chapter'

Pakistan's Chief Justice Yahya Afridi has raised serious concerns over violations of due process and judicial impartiality in the trial and execution of former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, describing it as a “regrettable chapter” in the country’s history.

In a five-page note, Afridi underscored how the politically charged climate of the time disrupted judicial independence, leading to far-reaching impacts on public confidence in the judiciary.

He endorsed observations of former Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa that the Lahore High Court and Supreme Court in 1979 failed to meet fair trial standards during Bhutto’s case, citing procedural lapses and undue influence as critical factors undermining judicial integrity.

However, he partially agreed with Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, stating that portions of ex-CJP Isa’s detailed opinion exceeded the advisory jurisdiction of the Supreme Court under Article 186 of the Constitution. He emphasized that the court cannot reappraise evidence in such references.

Isa headed a Supreme Court bench which earlier this year accepted that the murder trial of Bhutto was unfair and lacked due process.

A nine-judge bench had taken up the reference, filed in April 2011 on behalf of ex-President Asif Ali Zardari, to seek an opinion on revisiting the death sentence in the Bhutto case, under the Supreme Court’s advisory jurisdiction.

In his note, Afridi mentioned Justice Nasim Hasan Shah’s controversial remarks, in which Shah admitted that external pressures influenced the appeal's outcome. Shah, who was part of the Supreme Court bench that upheld Bhutto’s death sentence, revealed in his autobiography that judicial appointments were orchestrated to manipulate the trial’s outcome.

Afridi also highlighted the inclusion of Justice Maulvi Mushtaq Hussain, whose open hostility toward Bhutto rendered his role as trial judge “unwarranted and improper.” Afridi criticized the manipulation of the appellate bench and Hussain’s overzealous involvement, which he said blurred the boundaries of judicial propriety.

The chief justice lauded dissenting justices Dorab Patel, Muhammad Haleem, and Safdar Shah for their courageous dissenting opinions, which, though unsuccessful in changing the outcome, remain enduring testaments to judicial integrity.

Who was Zulfikar Ali Bhutto?

Bhutto, the founder of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan’s first democratically elected prime minister, served from 1973 until his government was overthrown in a military coup led by General Zia-ul-Haq in July 1977. In September of that year, Bhutto was arrested on charges stemming from a 1974 police report implicating him in a conspiracy to murder political rival Ahmed Raza Kasuri.

Despite contradictory evidence and allegations of forced testimonies, Bhutto was retried and sentenced to death by Hussain in what many have criticized as a politically motivated trial. He was executed on April 4, 1979, in Rawalpindi, a move that remains a deeply contentious chapter in Pakistan’s history.

Concluding his note, Afridi emphasized the importance of addressing past judicial shortcomings to safeguard the integrity and independence of Pakistan’s justice system.