Pakistan SC bars ex-PM Nawaz Sharif from holding office for life

The move was made by the apex court at a time when the nation is gearing up for the general elections to be held this year.

According to DawnNewsTV, the verdict was issued unanimously by all five judges of the bench.

"Article 62(1)(f), which sets the precondition for a member of parliament to be "sadiq and ameen" (honest and righteous), is the same provision under which former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was disqualified by a five-judge SC bench on July 28, 2017, in the Panama Papers case. Likewise, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leader Jahangir Tareen was disqualified on Dec 15 last year by a separate bench of the apex court under the same provision," reported Dawn News.

Following the verdict given by the top court of the Asian nation, Sharif and Insaf were left ineligible to ever hold public office.

The decision, read out by Justice Umar Ata Bandial, stated that the disqualification of any member of parliament or a public servant under Article 62 (1)(f) in the future will be “permanent”, reported Dawn News.

Such a person will not be able to fight elections or be a part of the Parliament.

Before giving the verdict,  Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, who was heading the bench,  was quoted as saying by Dawn News that he said people deserves  'leaders of good character'.

"The restriction imposed by Article 62 (1)(f) of the Constitution for the eligibility of a candidate for election to Parliament serves the public need and public interest for honest, upright, truthful, trustworthy and prudent elected representatives," reads the judgement.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president and Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif  said Nawaz Sharif will not need any formal office to guide people of the nation and the party.

"Nawaz Sharif is not the name of a person. Rather he represents a philosophy and an ideology of public service, supremacy of constitution and respect of vote. A leader like him does not need any formal office to continue guiding his party & serving his people," he tweeted.

"Today is a day of test for the nation when a judicial decision has barred a popular national leader from serving the county who made it a nuclear power and who has the distinct honor of being elected Prime Minister thrice.," he said.

"We have always believed in the supremacy of law and the neutrality of its arbiters. Despite the judicial verdict, PML-N will continue to be the largest political party of the country under the guidance of Nawaz Sharif," he said.

State Minister for Information Marriyum Aurangzeb said decision against Nawaz Sharif was made first and the trials started later.

"From today an era of Nawaz Sharif's politics has begun which should be feared by our political opponents," she told Geo News.