ISLAMABAD The Supreme Court on Wednesday disqualified the Sharif brothers from holding or contesting public offices, a verdict that the PML-N and its friends read as a call to war and which may add fuel to the lawyers planned long march for the restoration Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry as Chief Justice of Pakistan.
Consequently, Shahbaz Sharif also lost his office of Chief Minister of Punjab and elder brother Nawaz Sharif is barred from contesting elections, thus, shifting the bitter political bitterness to the streets.
For the reasons to be recorded later, the judgments order dated June 23, 2008 Lahore High Court in writ petitions No.6468/2008 (Noor Ellahi versus Nawaz Sharif) and 6469/2008 (Syed Khurram Shah versus Nawaz Sharif) are upheld. No ground for leave is made out. These petitions are accordingly dismissed, said a short order by a three-member bench comprising Justice Mohammad Moosa K Leghari, Justice Syed Sakhi Hussain Bukhari and Justice Sheikh Hakim Ali.
The bench was hearing the appeals of the federal government against June 23, 2008 Lahore High Court (LHC) order of disqualifying the twice-elected prime minister and PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif from the by-election for being convicted under the 1999 plane hijacking conspiracy case.
About Shahbaz Sharif, a separate order of the Supreme Court converted the petititions of Syed Khurram Shah into appeal and declared that Shahbaz Sharif was not qualified to be elected or chosen as a member of the provincial assembly from PP-48 Bhakkar-II.
It also declared null and void the June 3, 2008 notification of the Election Commission in favour of Shahbaz Sharif and ordered the commission to de-notify Shahbaz Sharif membership.
The decision comes days after the allegations leveled by top PML-N leadership that President Asif Ali Zardari was hell-bent to disqualify Sharif brothers from the court by using PCO judiciary.
The Supreme Court also imposed a fine of Rs100,000 each to petitioners and proposer and seconder of Sharif's namely Mehr Zafar Iqbal and Shakeel Baig. Both were ordered to deposit the amount in the court within fifteen days or face a simple imprisonment of three months.
Before the announcement of the verdict, contingents of police were seen being deployed around the Supreme Court while heavy presence of plain-clothed security personnel was seen inside the courtroom.
Advocate Ashtar Ausaf, representing the Speaker Punjab Assembly conceded before the media that the decision of the apex court was final against which no appeal could be moved though a petition seeking review was possible.
Advocate Mobeenuddin Qazi, the counsel for Noor Ellahi however appreciated the judgment by saying that it was made in accordance with the Constitution and that the court had established that every body was equal before the law.
Temperature also surged inside the courtroom just minutes before the announcement of the short order when Mehr Zafar Iqbal's counsel Advocate Akram Sheikh, sensing the mood of the bench alleged that judges had to justify their judgments on the Day of Judgment and that he had knocked at the doors of the temple of justice.
No you have not knocked at the doors of temple of justice and why are you bent upon creating a situation which we do not want to, Justice Leghari observed, adding the counsel had not maintained decorum of the court.
The counsel, however, accused the court for allowing the other side to insult Sharif brothers by accusing that Sharif's had a defect in their blood line.
The counsel also insisted that the bench should not proceed further without deciding the applications in which request was made that the judges should withdraw themselves and form a larger bench comprising pre-emergency judges.
He also criticized Attorney General Sardar Mohammad Latif Khan Khosa for advancing arguments at variance with the appeals of the federal government.
However, the bench clarified that the counsel had been told well in advance that the court would decide their application for refusal as well as the merits of the case together. Besides the counsel were also given patient hearing and all the parties were heard at length.
Meanwhile the PILDAT-appointed trial observers on the Sharif brothers' eligibility cases said in their report that the Supreme Court short order had negated the age old maxim that justice should not only be done but should be manifested and undoubtedly seen to have been done.
Agencies add Pakistani stocks fell 4.2 per cent as investors sold on fears that the country was heading into a fresh phase of political instability.
Shahbaz Sharif vacated the CM House after the courts decision. The federal government tried to pre-empt the Punjab Assembly session by declaring two-month Governor's Rule but some 132 MPAs made it to the assembly and started protesting against the court verdict.
TV reports say that top level changes have been in the province; Najibullah Malik has been reportedly appointed chief secretary Punjab and Khawaja Khalid Farooq is the new IG Punjab.
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