Fridays of judgements: The day in political history

Friday has important political significance in Pakistan’s history as a number of the major decision have been given on this very day.

Following are the major decisions announced on Fridays.

July 20, 2007

A 13-member bench of Supreme Court judges unanimously overturned former president Pervez Musharraf’s decision to suspend the then chief justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry.

July 31, 2009

The Supreme Court declared former president Pervez Musharraf’s decision to impose an emergency on November 3, 2007, as well as his Provisional Constitutional Order illegal and unconstitutional.

July 28, 2017

A five-member bench of the apex court disqualified Nawaz Sharif, the then-prime minister, from holding public office in its landmark decision on the Panama Papers case. The verdict brought the PML-N supremo’s third term in power to an unceremonious end.

December 15, 2017

The Supreme Court handed down its much-awaited judgment in the Imran Khan on Friday, Jahangir Tareen disqualification case, rejecting Hanif Abbasi’s petition for Khan’s disqualification but disqualifying Jahangir Tareen for being “dishonest”.

April 13, 2018

In a historic verdict, the Supreme Court rules that disqualification handed down under Article 62 (1)(f) of the Constitution is for life. The decision stated that the disqualification of any member of parliament or a public servant under Article 62 (1)(f), which sets the precondition for a member of parliament to be “Sadiq and Ameen” (honest and righteous), will be “permanent”. Such a person cannot contest elections or become a member of parliament.

July 6, 2018

It was Friday when the accountability court announced the verdict in the Avenfield corruption reference filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). The court handed ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif 10 years as jail time for owning assets beyond income and 1 year for not cooperating with NAB.

His daughter Maryam Nawaz was handed 7 years for abetment in the purchase of the high-end properties in London, and 1 year for non-cooperation with the bureau.

According to the verdict, Nawaz’s son-in-law Captain Safdar has been given 1 year of jail time — also for not cooperating with NAB.

October 21, 2022

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Friday, in a consensus verdict in the Toshakana reference, disqualified former prime minister Imran Khan and ruled that the PTI chairman is no more a member of the National Assembly.

Criminal proceedings will be initiated against the PTI chairman for misdeclaration, the verdict said.

The ECP stated that Imran Khan submitted a false affidavit and was found involved in corrupt practices under Article 63(1)(p).