ISAS Insights

A unanimous verdict issued on 28 July 2017 by a five-member bench of Pakistan’s Supreme Court ordered Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to vacate his seat in the National Assembly. Without being a member of the National Assembly, he could not continue to serve as prime minister. The verdict was based on the findings of a six-member Joint Investigation Team (JIT) that was established by the court to look into the financial dealings of the prime minister and his children – two sons and a daughter. The JIT uncovered a large number of dealings that seem to defy the Pakistani law. While referring these findings to the National Accountability Bureau for action, the court used a relatively minor offence to remove the prime minister from his position. Why did the court act the way it did and what be the consequences of its action? This paper attempts an answer to this and a number of related questions.