Pakistan's High Court Clears Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif In Panama Papers Case, Opens Path To Elections

On Wednesday (30 November), the Islamabad High Court cleared former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in a case linked to Panama Papers, paving way for him to participate in the upcoming 8 February elections, as reported by Dawn.

This 'Avenfield corruption' case involved the purchase of four upscale apartments in London. The decision overturns a 10-year prison sentence previously handed to him by an accountability court.

The ruling, delivered by a two-judge bench led by Chief Justice Aamer Farooq, follows the acquittal of his daughter Maryam Nawaz and son-in-law Safdar Awan in the same case.

The Avenfield case is one among three that emerged from the 2016 Panama Papers scandal.

Sharif was declared an absconder in this case in December 2020 while in exile in London. After returning to Pakistan last month, the former Prime Minister filed a plea in the high court to restore his appeal against the conviction, which the court agreed to last month.

Additionally, the high court dismissed an appeal against Sharif’s earlier acquittal in the Flagship corruption case after Pakistan's anti-corruption body, the National Accountability Bureau, withdrew its challenge.

While Sharif was acquitted in the flagship case by an anti-corruption court in December 2018, he was convicted on the same day in a third case – the Al Azizia scandal – and received a seven-year jail sentence.

His appeal against the Al Azizia conviction is still pending before the high court. Sharif has served as Pakistan's Prime Minister three times — from 1990–1992, 1997–1999, and 2013–2017.

Once cleared of all legal obstacles, including the Al Azizia conviction, Sharif is anticipated to be a leading candidate in the parliamentary elections on 8 February, paving the way for him to potentially contest for a position in the National Assembly, the lower chamber of the parliament.

His first term as Prime Minister was dissolved by then-president Ghulam Ishaq Khan in 1992. In 1999, he was ousted in a military coup led by the late General Pervez Musharraf. His final tenure ended in 2017 amid the Panama Papers investigations.

Under the most recent government, led by Sharif's younger brother Shehbaz Sharif, the outgoing parliament passed a contentious law.

This law limits the lifetime disqualification of lawmakers to five years, potentially opening the way for Nawaz Sharif to return to politics in time for the elections scheduled for 8 February next year.