The Supreme Court will resume hearing in the presidential reference seeking to revisit the death sentence awarded to former prime minister and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto on December 12. Earlier on June 29, an 11-member SC bench, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, had adjourned the hearing for an indefinite period, subject to availability of the larger bench.
President Asif Ali Zardari wrote a letter to the chief justice on November 26 asking him to fix an early date for hearing in the reference, as a larger bench was now available. On Monday, the chief justice formed an 11-member bench to hear the presidential reference on December 12. The reference was filed on April 2 by President Zardari under Article 186 of the constitution.
