SC dismisses review petitions of Sharif brothers

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed the review petitions filed by deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif, his children and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar 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.
A five-judge SC 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 Sharif, his children — Hussain, Hassan and Maryam Nawaz, son-in-law retired Captain Mohammad Safdar and Ishaq Dar.
“All review petitions stand dismissed,” Justice Khosa announced. The reasons for the judgment will be revealed later in the detailed order.
With the rejection of the review petitions, Sharif’s disqualification as a member of the parliament remains valid. The Sharif family and Dar will now face corruption references filed by the National Accountability Bureau in the accountability court.
The Supreme Court had on Thursday asked Sharif to have trust in the court which had always come to his rescue in the past.
“There is no need to get apprehensive merely because one decision has come against you,” Justice Asif Saeed Khosa observed while addressing senior counsel Khawaja Haris Ahmed, representing Sharif.
The observation came when Khawaja Haris expressed the reservation that his client might not get fair trial in the accountability court since everything in the corruption references against Nawaz Sharif and his children had been attributed to the Supreme Court.
“When I go to the trial court I will have to assail the manner the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) conducted inquiry against my client, which will be difficult due to the July 28 Supreme Court judgement that carries tags like ‘godfather’ against him and because everything in the reference had been attributed to the apex court,” the counsel said.