KARACHI, Jan 23: Justice Zia Pervez of the Sindh High Court asked the sessions court trying Mir Murtaza Bhutto murder case on Monday to dispose it ‘expeditiously without any unreasonable delay’.

Referring to two previous SHC orders made in this behalf in 1998, Justice Pervez also directed the trial court of District and Sessions Judge (East) Zafar Ahmed Khan Sherwani to ‘submit fortnightly reports about the progress of the case’. However the engagement of the counsel before the superior courts is to be taken into consideration’.

The judge noted the trial court’s comments in response to an SHC order that ‘it was making all efforts to conclude the trial as expeditiously as possible and will leave no stone unturned to proceed from day to day’. However, a number of senior lawyers were appearing for the various accused and on account of their preoccupation in the superior courts, they require frequent adjournments, the trial court said in its comments.

An application seeking a prompt disposal was moved by Haji Khan, brother of Abdus Sattar Rajpar, who was among the seven companions of Mir Murtaza Bhutto, MPA and chairman of the Pakistan People’s Party (Shaheed Bhutto), who were killed along with him in an alleged police encounter on September 20, 1996, near his Clifton residence. Former federal minister Asif Ali Zardari and former chief minister Abdullah Baloch and a number of police officers are among the accused in the case.

The applicant’s counsel, Mehmood A Qureshi, earlier submitted that for the last about nine years, only 32 out of 103 prosecution witnesses, were examined yet the case was still being adjourned for one reason or another. The last witness was examined Sept 11, 2004.

Many prosecution witnesses, the counsel said, were attending the trial regularly, but could not be examined due to adjournment applications filed by defence or due to the absence of the accused. The case was first assigned to the district and sessions judge (south), then transferred to the district judge (West) and later to the district judge (east). The charge against nine accused, who all pleaded innocent, was framed on July 5, 1997.

The trial was further delayed because accused Asif Ali Zardari could not be produced before the trial court for about two years as he was facing trial before accountability courts in Punjab.

Deciding the application on Monday, Justice Pervez observed that the case should have proceeded from day to day as directed by the high court and the comments received from the trial court showed that efforts were being made for early conclusion of the proceedings. Delay was being caused due to engagements of counsel as most of them were senior lawyers busy before the superior courts. Former DIG of Karachi Dr Shoaib Suddle, former SSP Wajid Ali Durrani, ASP Rai Tahir, Shahid Hayat, police officers Shabbir Qaimkkhani and Agha Tahir are among the police officials facing the trial.

QUASHMENT PLEA: Justice Mohammad Moosa K. Leghari, meanwhile, issued a notice to the prosecution in a quashment application moved by Asif Ali Zardari for Feb 8.