In a dramatic ruling, a three-member full Bench of the Lahore High Court on Monday declared former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif as ineligible for contesting elections.
The court also questioned the eligibility of Chief Minister of Punjab Shahbaz Sharif though it rejected the plea to restrict him from functioning as the Chief Minister. Angry workers of the Nawaz Sharif's PML-N shouted slogans against the judges calling them as lackeys of President Pervez Musharraf who were inducted after the November 3 emergency.
PML-N members of the Punjab Assembly also came out of the House on hearing the news of the court verdict. They shouted slogans against the PCO judges.
Shahbaz Sharif described the ruling as political and not legal. Other PML-N leaders accused President Musharraf of conspiring to create political instability through his chosen judges.
The Bench that comprised justices Shakoor Piracha, Bilal Khan and Shabbar Rizvi, gave its ruling ex-parte because both brothers opted not to appear before them in keeping with their consistent stance not to recognise the legitimacy of judges appointed by Musharraf after dismissing 60 judges when he imposed emergency on November 3 last year.
The petitioners, questioning the eligibility of Nawaz Sharif to contest elections, maintained that he was sentenced to life imprisonment for ordering hijacking Musharraf's plane after removing
him as army chief. Musharraf's loyalist generals toppled Sharif's government and arrested both brothers and then sent them in exile for 10 years following intervention by the Saudi government.
