- A lifeboat for PML-N
On Friday, two separate benches of the SC delivered verdicts in cases involving leaders of two major political parties. Both verdicts would have important bearing on national politics.
PTI chief Imran Khan stands acquitted in a case filed by PML-N’s Hanif Abbasi accusing Khan of being dishonest. Jahangir Tareen has been disqualified from holding public office for life. The verdict has mixed consequences for the party. It would have been catastrophic for the PTI if Khan, who is the Alfa and the Omega of the party, had been sentenced. The party would have been simply rudderless as is currently the case with the PML-N. The recent change in the election law would have allowed Khan to retain the party chair but unlike Nawaz Sharif Imran Khan had vowed he would quit politics if disqualified. Gauging Khan’ commitment to politics he might have revised the decision but this would have been humiliating.
The departure of Jahangir Tareen would be a big financial loss to the PTI as besides being the topmost tax payer among the country’s parliamentarians he also acted as the Party’s ATM. While the PTI is meditating to file an appeal against the judgment, it would be embarrassing for Khan who claims to be waging a crusade against corruption to continue to keep a man charged with insider trading and being dishonest under Article 62(1)(f) by the country’s highest court as PTI’s secretary general.
Another bench of the SC threw out the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) appeal to reopen Rs1.2 billion Hudaibiya Paper Mills case against the Sharif family. The counsel failed to convince the bench why the reference originally filed against the Sharifs in the year 2000 and quashed by a 2014 decision of the Lahore High Court should be resurrected. The case was thus dismissed on technical grounds.
The case opens a vista of opportunities for Shahbaz Sharif. He and his son are the only members of the Sharif family who do not presently face any legal challenge with potential for disqualification from holding public office. Whether Nawaz Sharif likes it or not, Shahbaz is now the PML-N’s only rallying point.