Alwaght- Pakistan's Supreme Court has banned former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif from holding public office for life.
A five-member bench of the country's apex court unanimously ruled on Friday that anyone disqualified under a constitutional clause requiring legislators to be "honest and trustworthy" would be considered banned for life.
Sharif was dismissed from office as prime minister in July of last year, in a case lodged over disclosures in the Panama Papers leak, but which ultimately hinged on allegations that he had failed to declare a salary from his son's UAE-based company.
The three-time prime minister and three of his children continue to face trial for corruption charges in a National Accountability Bureau court, which is due to deliver a verdict in the coming weeks.
Pakistan is due to hold a general election in July.
Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), which continues to hold a strong majority in parliament, termed the decision an attack on democracy.
Meanwhile PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz, while referring to Supreme Court's verdict on disqualification under Article 62, has said that this was not the first time that Nawaz Sharif had been disqualified.
Addressing a convention of her party's social media workers, Maryam said that she got to know about the Supreme Court's verdict while she was heading to today's gathering.
She said that this was not the first time that Nawaz Sharif had been disqualified or punished, but the former premier "continues to be added, instead of being subtracted."
The former first daughter said that whenever efforts were made to weaken Nawaz, he was strengthened more than ever.
