A nine-member Supreme Court (SC) bench led by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa will hear the presidential reference seeking a review of the 1979 death sentence imposed on former prime minister and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

The hearing is scheduled for December 12.

This case stems from a 2011 presidential reference filed by then-president and PPP co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari under Article 186 of the Constitution.

The reference requests the court's opinion on revisiting the trial and execution of Bhutto.

Legal history

The last hearing in this case took place in 2012. Advocate Babar Awan initially represented the federal government but was later suspended due to criticism of the court.

PPP counsel Aitzaz Ahsan also missed the last hearing due to the funeral of party leader Iqbal Haider.

Court-appointed experts

The SC had previously nominated several legal experts as "amicus curiae" to assist in the case. Some of these experts have since passed away.

Objections raised

Ahmed Raza Kasuri, who filed the original FIR against Bhutto, opposed the reopening of the case, arguing that the president was an "interested party".

Background

Bhutto was arrested and charged with the 1974 murder of Nawab Muhammad Ahmad Khan Kasuri.

He was convicted by the Lahore High Court (LHC) in 1978 and sentenced to death.

The top court upheld the sentence in 1979, leading to his execution by General Zia-ul-Haq's regime in 1979.

PPP's appeal for review

Some 32 years after Bhutto's execution, the PPP, then in power, filed the reference seeking a review of the trial. Notably, the SC's original judgment has never been cited as a precedent in any subsequent case.