Islamabad: Pakistan's Supreme Court will deliver its verdict on Thursday on the high-profile Panamagate case involving Prime Minster Nawaz Sharif and his children, a ruling which could "make or break" the country's most powerful political family.
The verdict is scheduled to be issued at 2 PM on April 20, confirmed the supplementary cause list released by the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
The Supreme Court of Pakistan said on February 23, after both the defence and prosecution completed their arguments, that it would reserve its verdict on the Panamagate case and issue a detailed judgement.
The case is about alleged illegal money laundering by Sharif in 1990s when he twice served as Prime Minister to purchase assets in London.
The assets surfaced when Panama papers showed that they were managed through offshore companies owned by Sharif's children.
The five-member bench hearing the case had asked the Sharif family to produce documentary evidence to establish Prime Minister's son Hussain Nawaz as beneficial owner of Park Lane flats in London, in accordance with the family's claim.
It is believed that the outcome of the case is make or break for 67-year-old Sharif ahead of election due next year.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi termed the impending ruling as an important decision in the country's history.
"After waiting 57 days, the decision has come. We hope the decision benefits the country," Qureshi was quoted as saying by the Dawn.
Awami Muslim League (AML) chief Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, one of the petitioners in the case, referred to the court's announcement as a "historical verdict for the sub-continent".
"We will accept whatever verdict the great judges put forth," said Rashid, and added that further course of action will be discussed with the PTI chief on Wednesday.
"Justice will win and corruption will lose," said the AML chief.
The case filed by various petitioners Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan, Jamaat-i-Islami emir Sirajul Haq and Sheikh Rashid Ahmed essentially seeks disqualification of Prime Minister Sharif over his alleged misstatement in his address to the nation on April 5 and his speech before the National Assembly on May 16, 2016.
The petitioners claim that the prime minister lied about the investments made by his children in offshore companies, which led to the acquisition of four apartments in Londons upscale Park Lane neighbourhood.
According to documents available on the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists website, Sharif's children Mariam, Hasan and Hussain "were owners or had the right to authorise transactions for several companies".
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