Sharif family to file review petition to challenge Nawaz's disqualification

Senior Lawyer Khawaja Haris is set to file a review petition against the Supreme Court's July 28 verdict regarding the disqualification of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and its direction asking the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to file references against him and his children.

Harris will be filing the review plea on behalf of the Sharif family as according to Supreme Court rules 1980, the family can file review petition within 30 days after receiving certified copy of the judgment.

The legal team's member believes that Nawaz's disqualification under Article 62 (1) (f) of the Constitution is unreasonable and Nawaz has been disqualified on frivolous grounds.

He further stated that constitutional petition under Article 184 (3) can also be filed for the constitution of a full court to hear the case, adding that there are slim chances that the same bench reverses its judgment during the hearing of the review petition, The Express Tribune reported.

Another PML-N lawyer said that Sharif family should only challenge Nawaz's lifetime disqualification in the case. The PML-N lawyer feared that the apex court may fill all the gaps during the hearing of the review petition therefore the family should focus on NAB proceedings.

Meanwhile, Sharif family's legal team has also expressed serious concern over the nomination of Justice Ijazul Ahsan as 'monitoring judge' in view of the July 28 verdict to oversee the NAB proceedings

Earlier, Chief Justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar nominated Supreme Court's Justice Ijazul Ahsan as 'monitoring judge' to oversee the proceedings of the references that National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has been directed to file against ousted premier Nawaz Sharif, his family members and former finance minister Ishaq Dar.

On July 28, in a landmark judgment in the Panamagate case, a five-judge Supreme Court bench unanimously deposed Nawaz Sharif and directed National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to file references against Nawaz, his sons Hassan Nawaz, Hussain Nawaz, daughter Maryam Nawaz, son-in-law Captain (retd) Muhammad Safdar and then finance minister Ishaq Dar. NAB has decided to file these references in the accountability courts of Rawalpindi and Islamabad within six weeks from July 28.