The Supreme Court on Friday suspended the Federal Shariat Court’s decision to hand over control of the People’s Trust Foundation (PTF) to Benazir Bhutto’s heirs and directed the cabinet division to oversee the trust until the final verdict.
PTF employees had challenged the Federal Shariat Court’s decision in the apex court, leading to its suspension in accordance with the constitution.
A five-member Supreme Court Appellate Bench, headed by Justice Tariq Pervez, heard the petition and reversed the Federal Shariat Court’s decision in a provisional verdict.
Nusrat Bhutto, Benazir Bhutto and Mir Murtaza Bhutto were nominated as PTF’s trustees, founded by late former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in 1974, with financial support from the United Arab Emirates.
The government took over the trust and renamed it the Sheikh Sultan Trust and replaced the board of trustees acting on the orders of chief martial law administrator, Gen Ziaul Haq, in 1977.
The Federal Shariat Court later reversed the decision on Benazir Bhutto’s appeal and declared the 1977 martial law orders repugnant to Islam. The court directed the government to return the ownership, properties and assets of the trust to the heirs of Benazir and Nusrat Bhutto.
Murtaza Bhutto’s widow, Ghinwa Bhutto, his daughter Fatima and son Zulfikar filed a petition, stating that they are legally entitled to the trust’s ownership.
The court adjourned the hearing of the case. Former law minister Babar Awan, counsel for Bilawal, Bakhtawar and Asifa Zardari, will resume his arguments in the second week of June.
The PTF case is not the only one being argued in the Supreme Court that dates back to the 1977 coup. President Asif Ali Zardari has also filed a review petition over the decision to hang the elder Bhutto after the military took over in a coup. Babar Awan is also serving at the federation’s counsel in that case, having resigned his cabinet position to do so.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 14th, 2011.
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