As the verdict of Avenfield case is announced on Friday, July 6th 2018, this is not the first time a historical verdict is announced on Friday in Pakistan. The courts of Pakistan have a history of giving historical verdicts and landmark judgments on Fridays.
Restoring the Chief Justice of Pakistan
On July 20th, 2007, a bench of 13 judges in Supreme Court gave the landmark verdict of over-ruling the decision of Musharraf government of suspending the Chief Justice of Supreme Court Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhary. The suspension of Chief Justice and his forced leave was declared unconstitutional and Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhary was restored to the office.
Declaring the Emergency and PCO unconstitutional
Following this, on July 31st 2009, the Supreme Court of Pakistan declared that the decision of General Pervez Musharraf to impose a state of emergency in November 2007 was unconstitutional and illegal. Furthermore, the Provisional Constitutional Order by Musharraf, which suspended the constitution, was also declared as unconstitutional and illegal.
Disqualification of Nawaz Sharif
On 20th July, 2017, Mian Mohammad Nawaz Sharif was disqualified by a five member bench of the apex court on the basis of Panama Papers case. Nawaz Sharif at that time was the Prime Minister of Pakistan, who despite having strong reservations on the verdict of Supreme Court had to step down as the Prime Minister of Pakistan. The decision of the apex court also resulted in the dissolution of the Federal Cabinet.
Orange Line Metro Train Project
On December 8th, 2017 a bench of Supreme Court overruled the decision of the Lahore High Court that ordered the halt of construction of Orange Line Metro Train. Setting aside this decision of Lahore High Court, the Supreme Court ordered the Punjab government to continue the work on Orange Line Metro Train Project. The Supreme Court however also imposed certain conditions for continuing the work. The conditions included ensuring the stability and security of the monuments, presence of technical experts, operation of train on experimental basis for at least two weeks after completion, measures to ensure reduced air pollution etc.
Hudaibya Paper Mills Case
On December 15th, 2017 a three member bench of judges of Supreme Court rejected the appeal of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to reopen the case of Hudaibya Paper Mills Case. The Hudaibya Paper Mills case was a corruption scandal and a money-laundering case in which Nawaz Sharif, Shahbaz Sharif, Abbas Sharif, Hussain Nawaz, Hamza Shahbaz, Shamim Akhtar, Sabiha Abbas and Maryam Nawaz were amongst the accused.
Jahangir Tareen OUT, Imran Khan NOT OUT
Another important decision of Supreme Court on 15th December, 2017 was regarding the disqualification case of Jahangir Khan Tareen and Imran Khan. The judgment was much awaited since Hanif Abbasi had filed a petition for the disqualification of Imran Khan and Jahangir Tareen. While Imran Khan was NOT disqualified, Jahangir Tareen was disqualified for being “dishonest.”
Disqualification under Article 62
On April 13th, 2018, the Supreme Court of Pakistan gave its historical verdict that disqualification under Article 62 (1)(f) of the Constitution was for lifetime. The Article 62 (1) (f) of the constitution sets the precondition of being “Sadiq and Ameen” (honest and righteous) for the members of Parliament and civil services. The verdict declared that disqualification under this article will be permanent.
Avenfield Case
Last, but not the least, on July 6th, 2018 the National Accountability Bureau has announced its historical verdict on the Avenfield case. The scandal included the former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif along with his daughter Maryam Nawaz, his two sons Hassan and Hussain Nawaz and his son-in-law Captain Safdar. In the verdict, Nawaz Sharif has been sentenced to 10 years in jail alongwith a fine of eight million pounds. Maryam Nawaz has been sentenced to 7 years in jail with a fine of 2 million pounds. Maryam Nawaz and Captain Safdar, both have been barred from contesting elections for the next ten years. While Captain Safdar has been sentenced to arrest for one year, non-bail-able arrest warrants of Hassan Nawaz and Hussain Nawaz have also been issued.