Pakistan’s Supreme Court disqualified deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif from holding office for life on Friday, media reports reported.
Sharif, 67, resigned in July after the Supreme Court disqualified him from holding office over an undeclared source of income, but the veteran leader maintains his grip on the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party.
Friday’s ruling addressed an ambiguity over Sharif’s disqualification and whether he was barred from office for life or a specific period. REUTERS SV 1223
They were disqualified under Article 62 of the Constitution which says that in order for a Pakistani to become a parliamentarian, they need to be “sadiq” and “ameen” or honest and righteous.
At the last hearing, the government had argued that the length of disqualification should be left for the Parliament to decide, not the court.
The judges, however, ruled that according to the Constitution, those who are not “honest” and “truthful” as per law are banned from Parliament for life, Geo News reported.
In July 2017, then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif quit after the Supreme Court disqualified him from the post because of corruption charges against him and his family in the Panama Papers case. Disqualifying the prime minister from holding office, the judges unanimously had said Sharif had been dishonest to Parliament and the courts and was not fit to hold the position.
