Pak court to hear 2 decade-old graft case against Sharif

A Pakistani court on Wednesday constituted a larger bench to hear a petition seeking disqualification of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif over money laundering, 24 years after it was filed.

Lahore high court Chief Justice Manzoor Ahmad Malik constituted a five-member larger bench headed by Justice Muhammad Farrukh Irfan Khan to hear the petition.

The court has fixed May 8 for hearing of the case.

The petition was filed against Sharif in 1991 when he was serving his first term as prime minister.

Earlier, the LHC on April 27 took up the decade-old case on the request of petitioner Ali Imran. The LHC observed that a larger bench needed to be formed to hear this high-profile case.

According to law, cases involving high-profile individuals such as the PM require at least five or seven judges on the bench.

The petitioner said Sharif was not eligible to hold the post of prime minister as he has assets worth billions of rupees abroad.

“PM Sharif should be declared disqualified as he does not meet the legal requirement under Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution,” the petitioner argued.

Another petition against Sharif and other Pakistani politicians has been pending in the LHC seeking the order for them to bring back their assets from abroad.