By Aamir Latif
KARACHI, Pakistan
The Supreme Court on Friday disqualified Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in the Panama Papers scandal, declaring him guilty of financial irregularities, misuse of authority and concealment of assets.
A five-member bench led by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa also ordered that new cases be lodged against Sharif, his two sons, daughter and son-in-law.
The judges unanimously declared Sharif disqualified after a 273-day long hearing, which gripped the nation for more than a year.
The court also ordered the National Accountability Bureau, the country's anti-corruption authority, to file corruption cases against Sharif and his family within the next six weeks.
The judges declared Sharif disqualified after considering the report of a six-member joint investigation team, which was formed in April by the apex court to look into the scandal.
The team submitted its report in the court on July 10.
The investigators, including members of the country's two top spy agencies -- the Inter-Services Intelligence and the Military Intelligence -- had questioned Sharif’s children, his son-in-law, brother and the Chief Minister of Punjab province Shehbaz Sharif, as well as two close aides.
Last year, Sharif, who is serving as premier for a third term, was under immense pressure from the opposition and the media after the Panama Papers were leaked.
The papers revealed that his two sons -- Hassan Nawaz and Hussain Nawaz -- and daughter Maryam Nawaz owned offshore companies and properties worth millions of dollars, including luxurious apartments in London.
PM son's admission
There was no immediate reaction from Sharif, who maintained his innocence and has rejected all accusations of financial irregularities against him.
In April 2016, Sharif's eldest son, Hussain Nawaz, admitted in an interview with a local broadcaster that his family owned offshore companies and overseas property.
He insisted the transactions were all legal and refused to make his assets public, claiming that such a move could harm his business interests.
Three months ago, the Supreme Court decided not to disqualify Sharif from office but ordered to further probe into the business activities of the premier’s children.
The judges had expressed dissatisfaction with the money trail provided by Sharif’s lawyers and pointed out the failure of the country’s top anti-corruption bodies in investigating the scandal.
Sharif's right-wing Pakistan Muslim League, which won the 2013 elections with a landslide majority, had accused the joint investigation team of pressuring witnesses.
The investigators denied the charge. They accused the government of hampering their inquiry and harassing their families.
The Panama Papers, released by the Washington-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists in April 2016, pointed fingers at 140 politicians worldwide, including 11 current and former national leaders. The investigation claimed they worked with the firm Mossack Fonseca to establish shadow companies for global transactions and money laundering.
Their revelation sent shockwaves across the world, resulting in the resignation of Iceland’s premier Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson and political pressure on then British Prime Minister David Cameron, who later admitted to having a profitable stake in a fund owned by his father.
