Moving up the judicial chain: Supreme Court to take up Benazir assassination case
The Supreme Court has taken up the Benazir Bhutto assassination case and given the attorney general two weeks to submit investigation reports of the former premier’s death in a gun and bomb attack by the United Nations commission and Scotland Yard as well as the complete record compiled by local investigators.
The court has directed Attorney General of Pakistan Maulvi Anwarul Haq to submit reports compiled within two weeks along with a written statement. Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhary will constitute a larger bench to take up Bhutto’s assassination case.
Presiding over a three-member bench, he claimed that no one has shown any interest in unmasking the murderers of a leader of international stature, considering the fact that no commission was constituted to investigate the incident.
The chief justice said that “it was the height of brutality that a great leader was killed” after addressing a public rally in Rawalpindi and a criminal inquiry was mandatory in the case. The court has inquired from the attorney general whether the recommendations of the Scotland Yard and the UN commission have been implemented.
Meanwhile, Bhutto’s former protocol officer Chaudhry Aslam had filed an appeal under Article 185(3) of the Constitution on July 25 in the Supreme Court against the LHC verdict dismissing his plea to register a second FIR of the former PPP chairperson’s murder against former president Pervez Musharraf, former law minister Babar Awan, Interior Minister Rehman Malik and others.
Musharraf, Rehman Malik, former chief minister Punjab Chaudhry Pervez Elahi, Babar Awan, former director general Intelligence Bureau Ejaz Shah, former interim interior minister Hamid Nawaz, former interior secretary Kamal Shah, former Interior Ministry spokesman, Javed Iqbal Cheema and others have been made respondents in the case. Earlier, the LHC’s Rawalpindi bench had rejected the petitioner’s request for placing Awan and Malik on the Exit Control List.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 2nd, 2011.
COMMENTS (4)
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This is a belated step and probably we will never reach the truth because of unnecessary delay in the matter. We have lost vital evidence. We have lost an eye witness Khalid Shehenshah. We washed the crime scene immediately after the sad incident. Why? How documents only will reveal truth?
Politics, Politics.... Supreme Court takes a Somoto Action on liquor bottles almost instantly but why epic court took a a such time to investigate a case of height of brutality that a great leader was killed” after addressing a public rally in Rawalpindi and a criminal inquiry was mandatory in the case.
@Mirza I dont think we should investigate what did prompt the SC to take up this case now. If it is providing justice, let it happen. As you correctly said, better late then never. And there is a hope that taking up this case might lead to getting rid of this government which will be step towards stability and prosperity peace and harmony.....
It is about time that the SC takes up the important cases where dozens of people were brutally murdered rather than executive appointments and political cases of lesser importance. In particular the truth should come out about the rumors that top PPP leaders were involved or not? The swift justice would have quashed all false rumors and would have brought out the facts. It would be interesting to find out what did prompt the SC prompt to take up this case now? However, better late than never!