Supreme Court issues detailed verdict of Election Act case

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan has issued detailed verdict in petitions against Election Act 2017 that removed Nawaz Sharif as  head of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz.

Written by Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar, the 51-page judgment comes days after Nawaz Sharif  passed the mantle of his party  on his younger brother Shahbaz Sharif, Chief Minister of Punjab.

The judgement  also discusses allegations against Sharif   that stemmed from Panama Papers revelations  about offshore companies of the  then ruling family and that became basis for his disqualification as prime minister.

 The Supreme Court on February  declared former prime minister Nawaz Sharif ineligible to continue as president of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) for being a disqualified person declared by a court of law and declared null and void all actions taken by the former prime minister in capacity of party leader. 

The apex court also ordered the Election Commission of Pakistan to denotify Nawaz Sharif as president of the PML-N.

In a swift compliance of the judgement, the ECP removed the name of Nawaz Sharif as the head of the ruling PML-N from the list of registered political parties. 

The Election Commission also directed the PML-N’s acting secretary general Ahsan Iqbal to elect an acting president within seven days and conduct party elections within 45 days to elect president of the party.

A three-member bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar and comprising Justice Umer Ata Bandyal and Justice Ijazul Ahsen, announced the short order.