(Disclaimer: this is a work of fiction. Learn to take a joke; you’ll live longer.)
ISLAMABAD – An individual disqualified under Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution cannot serve as head of a family or household, a three-judge Supreme Court (SC) bench ruled on Wednesday, sending another seismic wave rippling through the dining room at the Sharif family’s Jati Umra’s residence.
The apex court’s verdict was in response to petitions challenging Nawaz Sharif’s status as the head of the Sharif family, which had been bulldozed through the family tree.
Opposition parties Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), Awami Muslim League, PPP and others had petitioned the apex court
The petition contested that just because Nawaz is the eldest sibling doesn’t mean that he is the worthiest to head his family. It also argued that just by virtue of being the father to his children, husband to his wife, and son to his mother, Nawaz did not merit the position of the household head.
Sharif had earlier been deemed unfit to hold public office in the landmark Panama Papers judgement, and then as the chairman of his party Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).
In its judgement on Thursday, the court declared that Nawaz Sharif has been removed as the head of Sharif family.
It further ruled that “all steps taken, orders passed, directions given and documents issued” by Sharif in the capacity of a father, brother or son, have been deemed to have been nullified.