New Delhi, March 8 -- The top judiciary having catharsis is not rare in any society supposedly run by the rule of law and the Constitution. The Supreme Court of Pakistan has regretted a verdict it delivered 45 years ago, which sent one of its tallest post-independence leaders to the gallows.

It has belatedly, but admirably and effectively, accepted that a bench of judges in March 1979 made a grave mistake in convicting ousted Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.

Being called "mea culpa" it has been hugely welcomed. But it could open the proverbial Pandora's Box since many more verdicts, under pressure from powerful forces, both civil and military, have been delivered in the intervening years. They continue to cause suffering and trouble ...