The Pakistan Supreme Court on Tuesday accepted a plea to form a five-member bench for hearing the review petitions of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, his family and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar against the verdict in the Panama Papers scandal, Geo News reported.
The new bench will be headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa. It will include Justices Gulzar Ahmed, Ejaz Afzal Khan, Sheikh Azmat Saeed and Ijazul Ehsan, reported PTI.
The petitions, filed by Sharif’s daughter Maryam Nawaz and sons Hussain Nawaz and Hassan Nawaz, son-in-law Muhammad Safdar and Dar, sought a review of the judgement disqualifying Sharif from holding office. The petition argued that the verdict violated many laws.
On July 28, Sharif was forced to quit after the Supreme Court disqualified him from holding office for life over a corruption scandal stemming from the Panama Papers leak in 2016. The documents had revealed that his family owned several illegally acquired offshore properties and businesses.
It was an unanimous decision by the five-judge bench headed by Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan. The judges had said that Sharif had cheated the Parliament and the courts, and was not fit to hold the position.
The court had also disqualified Finance Minister Dar, and said Sharif’s daughter Maryam Nawaz will not be allowed to contest elections. She was touted to be Sharif’s successor.
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