None of accused who killed my father, seven others held accountable: ZA Bhutto Junior

The Sindh High Court on Tuesday adjourned the hearing of appeals against the acquittal of all accused, including police officials in the Mir Murtaza Bhutto murder case, on a request of the counsel for the respondents.

Murtaza Bhutto, brother of then prime minister and PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto, was killed on September 20, 1996, along with seven others, including his close aide Ashiq Jatoi, in an alleged shootout in Clifton. Ex-South SSP Wajid Ali Durrani, then DIG Shoaib Suddle, former Intelligence Bureau director Masood Sharif, then Saddar ASP Shahid Hayat, then Clifton ASP Rai Mohammad Tahir and other police officials had been acquitted by the additional district and sessions court of District South on Dec 5, 2009 on charges of murdering Bhutto and his companions in an alleged shootout.

Respondents Shoaib Suddle, Rai Mohammad Tahir, Zulfiqar Ahmed, Ghulam Mustafa, Ahmed Khan, Raja Hameed, Gulzar Khan, Ghulam Shabbir, Zafar Iqbal, Faisal Hafeez and Abdul Basit were present along with their counsel. The counsel of Wajid Ali Durrani and Zakir Mehmood requested condonation for the absence of the respondents due to their ill health, which was granted by the court.

The counsel requested sought time for arguments in the case. A division bench headed by Justice Naimatullah Phulpoto, granting time, adjourned the hearing of the case with a direction to the court office to fix the case after four weeks. The son of the late Mir Murtaza Bhutto, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Junior also appeared before the court to witness the proceedings.

Talking to journalists after the court hearing, he said that all accused involved in the killing of eight persons were let off the hook and no one had been held accountable for the brutal murder of eight persons. He said that he believed in justice and had hope from the judicial system in the country. He said he came not only for his father but also the fathers, brothers and sons of the other persons who were brutally murdered along with his father in the incident. He said those who were nominated as culprits in the case were rewarded, promoted and provided privileged in the country.

Regarding the presidential reference with regard to a review of the death sentence handed down to his grandfather ZA Bhutto, he said he and his sister were became party to the reference and waited for justice. He said he hopes for justice not only for his grandfather but also for other sitting prime ministers who were not provide the opportunity to complete their term and were violently ousted. To a question regarding his participation in politics, he replied with a smile and said, “Let’s see how the general election goes.”

The appeal filed on behalf of complainant Noor Mohammad read that in an astonishing judgment the trial court had acquitted all the defendants and, hence, indirectly adjudicated that no one was responsible for the eight deaths and four injuries caused by the police on the night of September 20, 1996.

The appellant’s counsel questioned the legality of the trial court’s judgment, saying that the judgment had been passed through a short oral order on December 5. He added that the written judgment had been issued on December 8, so the impugned judgment was a nullity in the eyes of the law because it had been announced without it having been written or signed by the trial court judge. The SHC was requested to set aside the trial court’s judgment because it was empowered and justified to re-examine the evidence and draw its own conclusions from it.