Panamagate verdict: Pakistani SC disqualifies PM Nawaz Sharif

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif stepped down from his post on Friday immediately after a five-member bench of Supreme Court in a landmark decision over the Panama Papers case, unanimously disqualified him from holding a public office.

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar was also declared unfit for holding office by the five-member bench of the apex court headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa in a unanimous decision.

The court also ordered National Accountability Bureau—which is Pakistan's apex anti-corruption organisation, to complete the investigation in Panamagate case within six weeks. The judges observed that the premier had been dishonest to Parliament and the courts, and therefore could not continue in office.

The opposition supporters erupted in applause, chanted slogans on the streets and handed out sweets as the court pronounced the verdict.

Earlier, the apex court had in April declared there was “insufficient evidence” to oust Sharif over the graft allegations engulfing his family, and ordered a six-member investigation team comprising civilian and military investigators to probe the matter.The probe found there was a “significant disparity” between the Sharif family's income and lifestyle in its scathing report.

“The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has been asked to de-notify the prime minister from his National Assembly seat to fulfill the technicalities of implementing the order. The Supreme Court said the ECP should de-seat the PM for not disclosing his role in the Dubai-based Capital FZE company in his nomination papers, saying that this meant he was not ‘honest’ and ‘truthful’,” Pakistani daily The Dawn reported.

This has brought an unceremonious end to his tenure one year ahead of the scheduled general elections. None of the Pakistani Prime Ministers have completed a full five-year term. Sharif has been ousted from premiership for the third time in his chequered political career.

“Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan, who had headed the apex court's implementation bench following its April 20 order on the Panama Papers case, announced that the larger bench had unanimously deemed PM Sharif unfit for holding office and would also order an accountability court to open references against him and his family,” the report further said.

The SC agreed last year to investigate the Sharif family’s wealth after the opposition threatened protests after the publication of 11.5 million secret documents from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca documenting the offshore dealings of many of the world's rich and powerful.

Three of Sharif’s four children including his daughter Maryam and his sons Hasan and Hussein were implicated in the papers. The papers revealed his family had bought posh London apartments through offshore companies.