Nawaz Sharif steps down as Pakistan PM

Nawaz Sharif on Friday stepped down from his post as Prime Minister of Pakistan after Supreme Court's verdict on Panama Papers, according to Pakistan Media.

It is the third time the 67-year-old veteran politician's term as premier has been cut short.

Earlier today, The Supreme Court disqualified Nawaz Sharif from holding public office in a landmark decision on the Panama Papers case. The verdict was handed down unanimously by a five-member bench in the court.

The Supreme Court also ordered the National Accountability Court to start a corruption case against Sharif, his children -- Hussain and Hassan -- and his daughter Maryam.

"Following the verdict, Nawaz Sharif has resigned from his responsibilities as prime minister," a spokesman for Sharif's office said in a statement.

He served as prime minister from November 1990 to July 1993 and from February 1997 until he was toppled in a bloodless coup in October 1999. No civilian prime minister of Pakistan has ever completed a five-year term.

It is the second time in Pakistan's 70-year history that the Supreme Court has disqualified a sitting prime minister. In 2012, then-prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani was disqualified over contempt of court charges for refusing to reopen a graft case against then president Asif Ali Zardari.

OneIndia News