A petition was moved in the Lahore registry of the Supreme Court calling for abolition of the death penalty, arguing that it was a violation of the Constitution.
Barrister Zafarullah Khan of the Watan Party, on Monday, moved the petition stating that the rampant use of the death penalty for murder was unconstitutional.
He said that due to the prevailing corruption in the country many innocent lives would be put at risk. He stated that out of 213 countries of the world only 68 now had the death penalty. He stated that Pakistan was a constitutionally democratic country, where the majority believed in the Constitution.
He said that the right to life was a natural right embodied in Article 9 of the Constitution. He mentioned that former president and prime minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was hanged in 1979 and that against his conviction a presidential reference had been moved.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 26th, 2011.
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