Based on the evidence presented in the 23-page judgment authored by Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan then Mr Sharif doth protest too loud, and he and his fellow defendants are hoist with their own petard. There is now no doubt as to why Mr Sharif found himself disqualified. The judges found him evasive and non-committal in his denial of an asset or defending a trust deed that was supposedly written in 2005 but in the papers presented to the court was written in a font that was not commercially available till 2007. This and other irregularities were below the dignity and decorum of the office of the prime minister.
It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that had Mr Sharif and his advisers and legal team made a clean breast of everything from the outset, full disclosure of everything without prevarication and obfuscation, then it is entirely possible that he would still be in office as PM today. They chose not to go down that path and in the process managed to blacken their names and characters and sow doubt in the minds of the judiciary as well as large sections of the commentariat. If you look and act guilty then the chances are that there is something you are guilty of. The Sharifs collectively appeared shifty and untruthful, downright deceptive in The Case of the Poisoned Font and it is small wonder that they eventually found themselves in the position they are today. The justices were of the view that Mr Sharif never ‘came forth with the entire truth’ when ‘his conduct should be above board and impeccable.’ Let justice be seen to be done.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 9th, 2017.
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