ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Wednesday declared that requirements for a fair trial and due process were not met in the murder trial of former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

A nine-member bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Issa said this in its opinion regarding the Presidential reference about the matter.

The bench said proceedings of the trial by the Lahore High Court and of the appeal by the Supreme Court of Pakistan do not meet the requirements of the Fundamental Right to a fair trial and due process enshrined in Articles 4 and 9 of the Constitution and later guaranteed as a separate and independent Fundamental Right under Article 10A of the Constitution.

The court, however, said the Constitution and the law do not provide a mechanism to set aside the judgment whereby Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was convicted and sentenced.

In its opinion regarding a question asked in the reference, the court said it cannot reappraise the evidence and undo the decision of the case. However, the court, in its detailed reasons, shall identify the major constitutional and legal lapses that had occurred with respect to fair trial and due process.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has congratulated PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, former President Asif Ali Zardari, PPP leadership and workers on the Supreme Court’s opinion that Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was denied fair trial.

In a message, he said though reversal of a mistake committed in the past is not possible but its confession has set a new tradition and history.

The Prime Minister said it is a positive development in the right direction. He said the unanimous opinion of the Supreme Court in the Zulfikar Ali Bhutto reference will help understand history in a true context at the national level.

He said national unity and the process of development can be expedited by correcting mistakes of the past and ending bitterness.