Pakistan: SC disqualifies PM Nawaz Sharif, steps down

The court was announcing its verdict in connection with the  Panama Papers case.

"Shortly after, the PM House issued a notification saying that Nawaz Sharif, despite having 'strong reservations' on the SC’s verdict, has stepped down from his post as the premier," Dawn News reported.

His stepping down brought Nawaz Sharif's third term in power to an unceremonious end.

He stepped down nearly an year before Pakistan would have participated in the scheduled general elections.

It is not clear so far that who will be appointed to the post till the elections next year.

In a landmark verdict, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and Captain Safdar were also declared unfit for the post.

The Election Commission of Pakistan was also directed to issue notification to declare the disqualification of the PM>

The verdict was given today by original five-member bench that heard the case since January 2017.

The issue of Panama Leaks came to light on April 4, 2016, as part of a massive leak of secret files from a Panamanian law firm that specialises in setting up offshore companies. A trove of 11.5 million digital records from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca last year revealed how world’s wealthy used offshore companies to stash assets.

According to the Panama Papers, three of Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif’s four children – Maryam, Hasan and Hussain – were owners of offshore companies and “were owners or had the right to authorise transactions for several companies.” but the Sharif family has dismissed the allegations of money laundering and denied any wrongdoing.