KARACHI, May 7: Asif Ali Zardari appeared on Saturday before the district and sessions court of East, trying him and others in the Mir Murtaza Bhutto murder case. Judge Zafar Ahmed Khan Sherwani adjourned the hearing of the case till July 9 after he was told that special public prosecutor Ilyas Khan was in the United States for his medical treatment.

Wearing off-white shalwar-qamees and with an unruffled smile on his face, Mr Zardari waved to his party leaders and supporters, who showered rose petals on him as he gently climbed up the stairs of the court along with his personal guards and policemen at around 8.33am.

This was his first appearance before the trial court in the case after his release on Nov 22 last year. A large number of lawyers belonging to the People’s Lawyers Forum, headed by PLF president Shahadat Awan, also attended the court proceedings.

His counsel, Barrister Azizullah Shaikh, moved an application seeking exemption from his personal appearance in the court. The judge issued notice to the prosecution for May 28 for hearing the arguments on the application.

The defence attorneys for other accused were also present in the court, while the state was represented by assistant special public prosecutor Mushtaq Ahmed.

In his application, Barrister Shaikh prayed to the court on behalf of Mr Zardari to exempt him from attending the court proceedings in person “unless so ordered by the court”. He prayed the court that his client may be allowed to be represented through his counsel.

The defence counsel submitted that Mr Zardari was suffering from various ailments and he could not climb so many steps of long stairs to reach the court on the second floor.

He further stated that during climbing of stairs, his client could easily be made target by “political activists/terrorists”.

Mir Murtaza Bhutto, son of the late prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and the younger brother of then prime minister Benazir Bhutto, was killed with six others, including his close aide Ashiq Jatoi, in September 1996 some 100 meters from his resident in Clifton by a heavy contingent of police during an alleged shootout.

The accused — Asif Ali Zardar, former DIG of Karachi Shoaib Suddle, the then senior superintendent of police, South, Wajid Durrani, then chief of the Intelligence Bureau Masood Sharif, then SP of Saddar Shahid Hiyat, then ASP of Darakhshan Rai Mohammed Tahir, then SHO of Garden Shabbir Ahmed Qaimkhani, then SHO of Napier Agha Mohammed Jameel, ASI Abdul Basit, head constables Muslim Shah and Faisal Hafeez, and constables Zafar Iqbal, Zulfiqar Ahmed, Ghulam Mustafa, Ahmed Khan, Raja Hameed, Gulzar Khan, Zakir Mehmood and Ghulam Shabbir — are on bail. Inspector Zeeshan Kazmi, who was the only absconding accused, was killed by unknown persons last year.

Shoaib Suddle, Masood Sharif and Rai Tahir have been exempted from appearing before the court.