Reference for reopening ZAB murder case likely

Law minister says Zardari will file the constitutional reference in SC.

LAHORE:

The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) is likely to launch a public awareness movement over what it sees as the “pick-and-choose policy” of the Supreme Court on different cases against the party.

The aim of the movement will be to sensitise the community about the federal government’s efforts in the implementation of different court verdicts, sources told The Express Tribune.

Federal Law Minister Babar Awan on Sunday announced that a constitutional reference under article 186 would be filed by President Asif Ali Zardari in the Supreme Court for the reopening of the founder of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s murder case today.

He said that the reference will be put up in the court after taking permission from the federal cabinet in a meeting being held today “and hopefully, the court would follow the ‘Doctrine of limitations of necessity’ (Nazariya-e-Hadood-e-Zaroorat) in the Bhutto murder case”. He added that the Lahore High Court should protect Bhutto’s record which is lying in its record room.

The law minister was addressing a press conference at the residence of a party worker, Farukh Sohail Gowindi in Cantt. A list of recent Supreme Court rulings on various cases would be issued by the party to exemplify “the pick and choose policy” of the apex court, according to sources.

Awan added that the PPP was facing opposition from different corners, such as Sharjil and Taj but no suo motu action was taken against other political parties for the acts of May 12, October 18 and December 27.

Criticising the ‘good governance’ of the PMLN-led government in Punjab, he said that Shahbaz Sharif had reduced the billions of rupees from the budgetary allocations for the Southern Punjab.

Providing details of these amounts, he said that more than Rs1.3 billion has been reduced from the total allocated amount of Rs8 billion under the head of development programme while around Rs8.6 billion from the budgeted amount of Rs23 billion has been jettisoned.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 28^th, 2011.