Pakistan's ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif filed three separate appeals in the Supreme Court on Monday to review its verdict in the Panama Papers case that resulted in his disqualification.
A five-member Supreme Court bench last month disqualified Sharif for dishonesty and ruled that corruption cases be filed against him and his children over the Panama Papers scandal, forcing the prime minister to quit.
Sharif's lawyer Khawaja Harris filed the three review appeals, in reply to the petitions filed by Imran Khan, Sheikh Rashid and Sirjul Haq, in the Lahore registry of the apex court.
The decision to file the appeal against the verdict was taken before 67-year-old Sharif's road journey from Islamabad to Lahore, but the legal team took time to prepare the case.
Harris also submitted relevant documents concerning the iqama — a United Arab Emirates work visa — that led the judges to declare Sharif "unfit to hold office", Dawn reported.
In his plea, Sharif argued that the 28 July decision should have been given by a three-member bench since Justice Asif Saeed Khosa and Justice Gulzar Ahmed's jurisdiction had expired after their dissenting judgement on 20 April.
“By signing the the final order of the court” on 28 July, Justice Ahmed and Justice Khosa “have actually passed two judgments in the same case, which is unprecedented in judicial history,” reads the appeal petition.
Sharif also chaired a meeting of party leaders at his Raiwind estate in Lahore to prepare a strategy for his campaign to contact the masses over his disqualification.
The meeting was attended by Hamza Shahbaz, Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif, Railways Minister Saad Rafique, and Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah, among others.
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