Pakistan Supreme Court: The 5-judge bench of Asif Saeed Khan Khosa, Ejaz Afzal Khan, Gulzar Ahmed, Sh. Azmat Seed and Ijaz Ul Ahsan, JJ declared Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif unfit to be a member of the Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) after he failed to prove himself innocent in the Panama Papers case against him and his children.
The Court said that PM Nawaz Sharif was not honest in terms of Section 99(f) of the Representation of the People Act, 1976 and Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973 and therefore he was disqualified to be a Member of the Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) as he not only furnished a false declaration under solemn but also failed to disclose his un-withdrawn receivables constituting assets from Capital FZE Jebel Ali, UAE in his nomination papers filed for the General Elections held in 2013 in terms of Section 12(2)(f) of the Representation of the People Act, 1976.
The Court had, by an earlier order, constituted a Joint Investigation Team to look into the alleged money laundering by Nawaz Sharif & his family members. The Court said that the questions as to how did Gulf Steel Mill come into being; what led to its sale; what happened to its liabilities; where did its sale proceeds end up; how did they reach Jeddah, Qatar and the U.K. And how Nawaz Sharif’s children were in possession of properties in their tender ages were important questions to be looked into. It was said that in normal circumstances, such exercise could be conducted by the NAB but when its Chairman appears to be indifferent and even unwilling to perform his part, it was important that an impartial Joint Investigation Team investigated the matter.
The Court asked the Election Commission of Pakistan to issue a notification disqualifying PM Nawaz Sharif with immediate effect. Nawaz Sharif resigned from his office soon after the decision. [Imran Ahmed Khan v. Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, 2017 SCC OnLine Pak SC 2, decided on 28.07.2017]
