Panama verdict: Pakistan Supreme Court dismisses Sharifs' review petitions

With the rejection of review petitions, Sharif's disqualification as MP remains valid

In a massive setback to Nawaz Sharif, the Pakistan Supreme Court on Friday dismissed the review petitions filed by the deposed Prime Minister and his children against the July 28 Panama Papers judgment.

A five-judge SC bench headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa had taken up the petitions seeking review of the court's ruling which disqualified Sharif and ordered the filing of corruption cases against him and his children — Hussain, Hassan and Maryam Nawaz, son-in-law retired Captain Mohammad Safdar and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar.

"For the reasons (to be) recorded later, all these review petitions are dismissed," Justice Khosa announced. The reasons will be revealed later in a detailed order, the Dawn online reported.

With the rejection of the review petitions, Sharif's disqualification as a member of the Parliament remains valid. The Sharif family and Dar will now face corruption cases filed by the National Accountability Bureau in the accountability court.

Speaking to the media after the verdict, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Fawad Chaudhry said the court's decision is a victory for the nation, Geo News reported.

The bench also comprised Justice Gulzar Ahmed, Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed and Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan — who along with the latter two headed the special implementation bench in the Panama case that oversaw the work of a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) that examined the references to the Sharifs and Dar in the Panama Papers.

On July 28, Sharif was dismissed by the apex court and stepped down after a probe into the Panama papers scandal revealed he had not declared income received from a firm owned by his son in Dubai.

The Panama Papers revealed in April 2016 that three of his four children had set up offshore companies in the British Virgin Islands through which they owned property in London, leading the top court to order an investigation after a year of protests by the opposition.

After Friday's decision, the Sharif family and Dar will have to seek justice in the Islamabad Accountability Court, where three cases against the Sharif family and one against the Finance Minister have been filed.

The members of the Sharif family have been summoned by the accountability court on September 19 and Dar on September 20.