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SC tells Awan not to seek pardon for
Z. A. Bhutto

ISLAMABAD - Chief Justice of Supreme Court Iftikhar Chaudhry on Tuesday asked government counsel Babar Awan not to seek pardon for Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, while directing him to give solid arguments instead of just vilifying the judges.

These remarks were made by the chief justice while hearing the Zulfikar Ali Bhutto reference case in the Supreme Court.

He said the federation’s lawyer had failed to present any solid argument in the reference and instead hinged his arguments upon the bias and partiality of judges.

The chief justice also remarked that the word ‘pardon’ is not appropriate for Bhutto. He also pointed out that the original record of the case has still not been presented to the court.

The court has been telling Awan that he should either cite any legal reason for revisiting the case or bring legislation to enable the court the take up a case like the Bhutto’s for reviewing the death sentence awarded during the Zia ruler.

Awan has said there is no need for fresh legislation and the court could on its own decide that Bhutto got a mistrial, judges were prejudicied and the death sentence violated law.

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