In a massive setback to Nawaz Sharif, the Pakistan Supreme Court on Friday dismissed the review petitions filed by the deposed Prime Minister and his children against the July 28 Panama Papers judgement. The ruling PMl-N party called the verdict a ‘disappointment’.
A five-judge SC bench headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa had taken up the petitions seeking review of the court’s ruling which disqualified Sharif and ordered the filing of corruption cases against him and his children — Hussain, Hassan and Maryam Nawaz, son-in-law retired Captain Mohammad Safdar and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar.
“For the reasons (to be) recorded later, all these review petitions are dismissed,” Justice Khosa announced. The reasons will be revealed later in a detailed order, the Dawn online reported.
With the rejection of the review petitions, Sharif’s disqualification as a member of the Parliament remains valid. The Sharif family and Dar will now face corruption cases filed by the National Accountability Bureau in the accountability court.
Talking to reporters outside the court, Pakistan Muslim league-Nawaz leader and Minister for Information Technology Anusha Rahman said the court’s decision was a “disappointment” for her party.
She also said that the Sharif family will not get a fair trial in accountability court if an apex court monitoring judge oversees the trial proceedings.
Another PMl-N leader, Talal Chaudhry, said: “Even a terrorist have the right to appeal, but in this case a Prime Minister has been denied that right and was disqualified from his office.”
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan thanked the Supreme Court for ending what he referred to as the ‘rule of the mafia’.