The five-member bench of the Supreme Court dismissed all review pleas against the Panama case decision on Friday.
The review petitions had been filed by the Sharif family and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar against the Supreme Court’s judgment in the Panama Papers case which had resulted in then premier Nawaz Sharif’s disqualification and filing of monitored and time bound corruption cases against them.
The bench was led by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, including Justice Gulzar Ahmed, Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed and Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan.
Reading out the short-order, Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, who headed the five-member bench, remarked that the court will share reasons for dismissal of the petitions later.
The bench was headed by Justice Khosa and comprised Justice Gulzar Ahmed, Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed and Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan — who along with the latter two headed the special implementation bench in the Panama case that oversaw the work of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT).
The bench began hearing the petitions on Wednesday after it was decided a day earlier to approve the Sharif family’s plea for the formation of a larger bench to hear the petitions rather than the earlier notified three-member bench.
After today’s decision, the Sharif family and Dar will have to seek justice in the Islamabad Accountability Court, where three references against the Sharif family and one against the finance minister have been filed.
Members of the Sharif family have been summoned by the accountability court on September 19 and Dar on September 20.
On July 28, Sharif was disqualified by Supreme Court 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.
