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There are several accounts of this historic meeting which took place ten days after General Zia's coup following which Mr. Bhutto was in protective custody at Government House, Murree. Many claim Bhutto threatened Ziaul Haq. Mr. Abdul Hafiz Pirzada who was present disagreed with this view although he conceded that the mention of Article 6 of the Constitution relating to treason did come up for discussion. He claims that the meeting was held in a cordial atmosphere although Mr. Bhutto refused to see Ghulam Ishaq Khan the de facto Prime Minister of Ziaul Haq on the grounds that he had been disloyal to him as Secretary General Defense, although he had brought him in service after retirement as Governor State Bank.
Mr. Burhanuddin Hassan the PTV News Director who received the footage of the meeting was shocked and had an interesting story to tell in his memoirs entitled "Uncensored". The footage showed Ziaul Haq as very nervous and fidgety continuously opening and closing a button of his as shown here. Hassan called him and sought his permission to censor the scene and could show it only for three seconds, that too after substantial editing. Bhutto was released on July 29,1977 but was again arrested on September 3,1977 on a hastily contrived conspiracy to murder charge. He was released on bail by Justice K.M.A. Samdani of the Lahore High Court due to “contradictory and incomplete” evidence on September 13, 1977. Three days later on September 16, 1977 Bhutto was rearrested under a Martial Law regulation, and was never a free man again until his judicial murder on April 4, 1979. The fidgety general had succeeded in the short term at least from entering the grave he had dug for himself.

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He stood up to the usurper Ziaul Haq both as a superior judiciary judge and Federal Law Secretary

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