Legal experts’ mixed reaction to PM’s disqualification

ISLAMABAD: Top legal experts have given a mixed reaction to the Supreme Court ruling in the PanamaLeaks case leading to the disqualification of Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif.

Talking to The News, senior lawyer Abid Hassan Minto said this was the weakest judgement he had ever seen.“If the five-member bench had to disqualify the premier on this ground, then what was reason for degrading people before the JIT which kept them waiting for hours and hours,” he said.

“They have totally changed the shape of Panama Papers case and given a weak judgement against the prime minister. 

The five-member bench has disqualified the prime minister by molding the directions of the case into very complex but on weak ground”, he said. Justice (retired) Wajeehuddin Ahmed though believed it was a very balanced judgement, he said the apex court had evidences more serious than the one cited for the premier’s disqualification.

He said there were many serious allegations against not only the prime minister, but also against many others including Ishaq Dar. But instead of disqualifying the Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and Captain Muhammad Safdar, the apex court cited a weak reason and disqualified just the premier. 

To a question about duration of prime minister’s disqualification under Article 62 1(f), he said there was no time period mention under this article which means disqualification for an indefinite time period. However, he said the prime minister could file a review petition to get clarification about the time period of his disqualification.