Islamabad: In a setback to Nawaz Sharif, the Pakistan Supreme Court on Friday dismissed the review petitions filed by that country’s deposed prime minister and his children against the Panama Papers judgment of July 28.
The court had reserved its verdict on the review petitions after the lawyers for all petitioners completed their arguments earlier in the day, Dawn online reported.
A five-judge bench headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa had taken up the petitions seeking review of the court's July 28 judgment which disqualified Nawaz Sharif and ordered the filing of corruption references against the former premier, his children — Hussain, Hassan and Maryam Nawaz, son-in-law retired Captain Mohammad Safdar and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar.
The dismissal of the review petition came a day after Pakistan's Supreme Court judges said that documents submitted by a probe team in the Panama Papers case showed that Nawaz Sharif received a salary in August 2013 from the UAE-based company owned by his son.
Sharif, 67, was disqualified under Article 62(1)(f) for failing to declare unclaimed wages earned as an executive of a Dubai-based company owned by his son in the assets statement he filed alongside his nomination papers for NA-120 (Lahore) seat in the 2013 general elections.
The three-time premier said he never received the income that investigators said he did not declare.
Sharif has said there was a conspiracy against him but did not identify anyone. Instead, he named long-time loyalist Shahid Khaqan Abbasi as his replacement as prime minister until the next election, expected in mid-2018.
Pakistan has for decades been plagued by pervasive graft, as well as by rivalry between the military and civilian politicians.
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