ISLAMABAD, Jan 31: The Supreme Court dropped hints on Tuesday that it might constitute an independent commission to investigate the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and sought the record of the murder trial from the special judge of the anti-terrorism court hearing the case.
A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, hearing a petition seeking registration of a second FIR in the murder case, ordered the ATC to submit copies of the proceedings, order sheets and progress made so far in the trial.
The petition, filed by Mohammad Aslam Chaudhry who worked for Ms Bhutto as protocol officer for 21 years, challenged the dismissal by the Lahore High Court of his plea for registration of a second FIR.
He requested criminal proceedings against former president Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf and other people for allegedly planning and executing the assassination.
The matter will be taken up again after two weeks.
The court issued notices to respondents Gen (retd) Musharraf, former Punjab chief minister Chaudhry Pervez Elahi, Interior Minister Rehman Malik, former law minister Babar Awan, Lt-Gen (retd) Hamid Nawaz, acting interior minister at the time of the assassination, former Intelligence Bureau chief Syed Ijaz Hussain Shah, former interior secretary Syed Kamal Shah and senior police officers who were posted in Rawalpindi.
The chief justice also asked Attorney General Maulvi Anwarul Haq to go through a recent speech of President Asif Ali Zardari in which the apex court had been asked to take suo motu notice of the case and observed that the late leader was not only chairperson of the PPP but also twice-elected prime minister.
The court observed that it could constitute a larger bench to conduct the proceedings and asked the attorney general to consult the relevant authorities on the matter and inform it about the government’s stance.
The attorney general said the government was taking the matter seriously and investigations had been conducted by the United Nations, Scotland Yard and a joint investigation team. Cases are also being heard in courts against the accused, including the former president.
When the court asked why the legal heirs of Ms Bhutto had not lodged an FIR, he said none of them was in the country at that time.