The Rawalpindi Bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday ordered a special court to hear the Benazir Bhutto murder case on daily basis and complete the trial within three months. The two-member bench comprising Justice Ali Baqar Najfi and Justice Mazaahir Ali Naqvi was hearing a petition filed by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) seeking order for the Special Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) to hear the case on daily basis. In its petition, the FIA pleaded that former Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chairperson Benazir Bhutto was slain on December 27, 2007, in Liaquat Bagh and it was regrettable that the trial of high-profile case could not be completed even after a lapse of five years. FIA Senior Public Prosecutor Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali contended that a trial court, under the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997, was bound to hold daily hearing of the cases for their quick disposal. He apprised the court that counsel for all the accused were using delaying tactics to delay the case which was evident from the fact that not even a single case of 2007 was pending in the ATC-I except this one. He said the murder case of Punjab governor Salman Taseer had been decided in only ten months.
