Retrial of case against Benazir ordered

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, APRIL 6. The Pakistan Supreme Court today set aside the verdict of a lower court against the former Prime Minister, Ms. Benazir Bhutto, in a corruption case, and ordered a retrial.

The case pertains to the conviction of Ms. Bhutto and her husband, Mr. Asif Zardari, by the Ehtesab (Accountability) Bench of Rawalpindi in April 1999. The conviction was on the basis of a case filed by the Nawaz Sharif Government for alleged irregularities in awarding a contract to a firm in violation of rules.

Ms. Bhutto was accused of awarding the contract for monetary considerations and depositing the commission in a Swiss bank. Both Ms. Bhutto and her husband were awarded five-year imprisonment terms and a fine of $8.3 million. Ms. Bhutto, who was abroad when the lower court pronounced its verdict, has been in self-exile since then. Her husband, charged in several other cases, recently completed five years in jail.

``We accept the titled appeal (by Ms. Bhutto), set aside the judgment and order a retrial of the case by a competent court,'' the apex court said in its short order. The reasoning would be spelt out in detail later.

The military government under Gen. Pervez Musharraf, which fought hard in the Supreme Court seeking validation of the lower court verdict against Ms. Bhutto, said it would abide by the order. However, the Musharraf regime was at pains to emphasise that there were other cases against Ms. Bhutto and that the ``law would take its own course'', if she returned to the country. Predictably, there was jubilation in the headquarters of the Pakistan People's Party, and senior party leaders said they would soon have an audience with the former Prime Minister to decide on her possible return here from self-exile.

With Ms. Bhutto's announcement in London that she would decide on her return after consulting her party colleagues, the military and the PPP appear headed for a confrontation in the coming days and weeks.

A special meeting of the PPP executive committee is scheduled for tomorrow to decide the future course of action. A meeting of the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD), umbrella organisation of 18-odd parties, including PPP and Pakistan Muslim League led by Mr. Nawaz Sharif, is meeting in Peshawar on April 8 to take stock of the situation.

There were also indications that the military government would not allow Ms. Bhutto to return in view of her being an accused in several other cases and a non-bailable warrant issued by a lower court a few weeks ago for her arrest is pending.

Lawyers for Ms. Bhutto said the former Prime Minister had obtained bail in all the four cases including the disproportionate assets case. They, however, said a non-bailable warrant against her was pending in one case for non-appearance in court.

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