Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Wednesday began hearing appeal of ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif against his disqualification in July.
Mr. Sharif’s lawyer Khawaja Haris, in his preliminary arguments, said that the court had disqualified Mr. Sharif on the flimsy ground of not disclosing information on an unclaimed salary from Dubai-based company FZE Capital, which was owned by his son.
However, the five-member bench of the court, headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, observed that Mr. Sharif was the chairman of the board of directors of the company.
Two judges of the five-member bench which disqualified Mr. Sharif had made their decision after he failed to submit a paper trail of his assets in court. The other three judges had ordered a Joint Investigation Team (JIT)to probe the matter.
After examining the JIT report, the court had delivered a unanimous 5-0 judgment on July 28, declaring that Mr. Sharif was not being truthful and honest. The court had also ordered registration of corruption cases against Mr. Sharif and his family members.
Summons to Sharifs
Meanwhile. an accountability court in Islamabad issued summons to Mr. Sharif and his sons, Hussain and Hassan, to appear before the court on September 19 in relation to the corruption cases filed against them by National Accountability Bureau.
The Sharifs have thrice refused to appear before the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for interrogation, citing their pending appeal in the Supreme Court against Mr. Sharif’s disqualification. However, if they ignore the summons issued on Wednesday, they face arrest.
