LAHORE: Former Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif has filed three separate petitions in the Supreme Court of Pakistan challenging the July 28 Panamagate verdict that disqualified him from holding any office. His lawyer Khuwaja Harris submitted three review appeals in response to petitions filed by Imran Khan, Sheikh Rashid and Sirajul Haq.
In his 34-page application, Nawaz requested the Supreme Court to review its judgment as the petitions submitted by him also includes relevant documents concerning the iqama- a United Arab Emirates work visa, that led the five-member bench of Pak's apex court to declare Nawaz “unfit to hold office”. Sharif argued that he did not hide the documents in his nomination papers for the 2013 polls, and mentioned in the application that under Article 188 of the Constitution, he cannot be disqualified without a trial. He was quoted as saying that being deprived of the right to appeal against the verdict is in violation of the Constitution.
Sharif was also ordered by the SC to give evidence to an anti-corruption investigation into his family's financial affairs. A team of investigators from anti-graft agency, the National Accountability Bureau will visit Sharif at his home in Lahore to take a statement regarding allegations that one of his family's steel mills was used as a front for money-laundering. The SC had ordered the NAB to open several criminal cases against Sharif after ruling him unfit to hold office. “The NAB investigation is a lead forward for Pakistan. But we have deep apprehensions, as in the past (the organisation) has been completely subservient to Sharif and his government,” a spokesman for Imran Khan said.
The entire criminal trial surrounding Sharif must be completed within six months, and if found guilty, he would be imprisoned for the second time in his political career. He could also lose the four Park Lane flats that he allegedly bought with ill-gotten gains.
