Pakistan Supreme Court verdict termed dangerous for Nawaz Sharif

Nawaz Sharif speaks to the reporters

 The Pakistani nation had a reason to celebrate when the Supreme Court on Friday passed a historic judgment and disqualified prime minister Nawaz Sharif after finding him dishonest to the parliament and judiciary and termed him as being no longer fit for the office of a premier.
A panel of five judges announced their unanimous decision Friday afternoon, with the election commission ordering to issue a disqualification notice to Sharif. With the ruling, Sharif's cabinet was also dissolved.
Silence enveloped the courtroom as Justice Ejaz Afzal read out the judgment and the opposition distributed sweets following the verdict in celebration with Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreeke Insaaf (PTI) leading from the front.
It was Khan who lobbied ferociously to get Sharif investigated for fraud. In a presser after the judgment, Khan said his fight was against corruption. "I hold no personal grudge against Nawaz Sharif," he said. "This is not a fight between me and him but a national issue pertaining to corruption," he added.
Sharif's allies were in shock. Former petroleum minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said that the court decided to disqualify the prime minister on assumptions.
"Sharif has been disqualified for not taking salary from him son's company in the UAE," he said.
Former military ruler and head of All Pakistan Muslim League General Pervez Musharraf also pitched in and said that the court decision was 'very good'.
"The entire nation is jubilant. Sweets are being distributed everywhere. It's a historic day," he said.
However, the impact and fallout of the decision is to be seen in the coming days. There is a chunk in Pakistan who believes that the judgment has, in fact, set a disastrous precedence for Pakistan.
Masood Sharif Khatak, former director general Intelligence Bureau said that the judgment would prove to be disastrous.
"The Supreme Court judgment delivered today against the now three times former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is going to prove a very disastrous precedence for our future," he said.
He said that a legal precedence for the 'Law of Necessity' was set by the infamous Justice Muneer who dissolved Pakistan's first ever constituent assembly of Pakistan in 1954.
"That precedence served for the provision of so-called legitimacy to three further dictatorial rules," opined Khattak.
"That 'Law of Neccessity' has now been effectively revived in a different way to remove a democratically elected Prime Minister. Judiciary has, unfortunately, lived up to its traditional past," he added.
asmaalizain@khaleejtimes.com