Thirteen years ago, on the night of September 20, 1996, Pakistan People’s Party-Shaheed Bhutto (PPP-SB) Chairman Mir Murtaza Bhutto, the son of PPP founder Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, was killed on Shahrah-e-Iran, Clifton, along with six of his companions.
It has been nearly 13 years since the registration of the first FIR and to date, the accused have not been supplied with copies of the documents required under Section 265-C of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC). Needless to say, a charge has still not been framed against the said accused, despite lapse of 13 years.
The FIRs: The first FIR for the case, FIR no. 386/1996, was registered by Inspector Haq Nawaz Sial on the same date at the Clifton Police Station. This FIR was registered under Sections 147, 148, 149, 186, 302, 324, 353 and 427 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) against Ghulam Mustafa, Mehmood Bhallai, Qaiser Hussain, Asif Ali, Waqar Hussain Zaidi, Akhtar Ali, Ayaz Ali, Dr. Mazhar Memon, Asghar Ali and Mohammad Ismail — the companions of Mir Murtaza Bhutto. Haq Nawaz Sial, however, was murdered soon after, but no case was registered by the State.
A second FIR (No. 399/1996) was registered on September 24, 1996, by Asghar Ali, a domestic servant of Mir Murtaza Bhutto at the Clifton Police Station. Ali later informed the Court that he was forced, compelled and coerced to file this FIR by the law-enforcement agencies.
After the registration of these two FIRs, Murtaza Bhutto’s wife Ghinwa Bhutto, and Ashiq Ali Jatoi’s wife, Badrunissa Jatoi, filed a constitutional petition in the Sindh High Court (SHC). This petition was given number D-1720 of 1996. The primary position in the said petition was that the police should be directed to register an FIR for the incident because they were refusing to file one. The SHC, via its order of November 11, 1996, (Benazir government fell on November 5) allowed the petition. Accordingly, a third FIR in the matter was registered at the Clifton Police Station.
It was registered on the complaint of Noor Mohammad and was given number 443/1996. This FIR was registered under Sections 120, 148, 149, 302 and 324 of the PPC against 22 accused. The charge Sheet in this FIR was submitted before the Sessions Judge South Karachi on May 3, 1997, where three of the accused persons, namely, Syed Abdullah Shah, Shakaib Qureshi and Zeeshan Kazmi were declared absconders.
The case: Proceedings pursuant to the first FIR were initiated in the then Suppression of Terrorist Activities Court-IV. Subsequently, the case was transferred to the Court of the Special Sessions Judge (South) Karachi on March 3, 1997. The Special Sessions Judge (South) Karachi made a reference to the SHC and the case was then transferred to the Special Judge (West) Karachi on July 8, 1998.
An application was made by the accused for their acquittal in this case. This application was dismissed by the Court via its order of January 5, 1999, on the grounds that the case was still in its early stages.
The accused also made an application in the SHC, requesting that the proceedings against them be quashed. The SHC dismissed this application on May 11, 1999, on the grounds that as proceedings under the third FIR were pending, a case and counter-case should be heard together and a common judgment should be announced.
The trial: The first trial judge was Shahnawaz A. Awan who examined two witnesses, Noor Mohammad and Asif Ali. After this examination, Awan retired as judge, and Zakir Hussain Mirza was appointed as Sessions Judge (South) Karachi.
Mirza declined to hear the case and made a reference on April 11, 1998, to the SHC for transferring the case. On September 21, 1999, the case was transferred to the judge of Small Cause Court on the order of the SHC. On April 15, 2006, the case was transferred yet again from the Small Causes Court to the Sessions Judge (East) Karachi.
When the sessions judge (East) Karachi began to hear the case, he was transferred to Hyderabad and a reference is being filed yet again by his successor judge to transfer the case.
It is pertinent to note here that on May 10, 1997, the investigation officer for the case submitted his report to the court, saying that there was no evidence against the accused and that the case was false, fabricated and should be cancelled.
Part-II of the Mir Murtaza Bhutto murder case overview tomorrow
