ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has set September 12 as the date to hear the review petitions filed by ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his children against the apex court’s July 28 decision which disqualified the PML-N chief from premiership.
A three-judge bench headed by Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan and comprising Justice Azmat Saeed Sheikh and Justice Ijazul Ahsan will hear the review petitions. However, legal experts are wondering why the review petitions would be heard by three judges when the July 28 order was issued by a larger five-judge bench.
The Sharif family has already raised legal questions over the constitution of a different bench in Panama Papers case. It has also argued that there is no precedent in the judicial history of Pakistan or the world for four final judgements to be issued in one case. The family has requested that this be resolved and the inherent anomalies be removed by reviewing the final order of the court as well as the judgement.
The former premier was disqualified for failing to declare unclaimed wages he earned as an executive of a Dubai-based company owned by his son in the assets statement he filed with his nomination papers for NA-120 in 2013 general elections.
Last month, Nawaz, through his counsel Khawaja Harris, had filed three similar review petitions under Article 188 of the constitution over the court’s ruling regarding his disqualification and its directives asking NAB to file references against him and his children.
Published in Daily Times, September 9th 2017.
