Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif Acquitted in Land Transfer Case: Potential Impact on Political Landscape

A Pakistani accountability court recently acquitted former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in a case filed 37 years ago. The case alleged that he had transferred a “precious state land” in the capital of Punjab province to a media baron as a “bribe.” This ruling comes days after the federal government led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the younger brother of Nawaz Sharif, amended laws to lift the life-long ban on politicians. This may enable Nawaz Sharif to contest and lead the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in the upcoming general election.

The 73-year-old three-time former Prime Minister was disqualified in 2017 by the Supreme Court and was later declared ineligible to hold public office for life in a Supreme Court verdict in the Panama Papers case. An Accountability Court in Lahore acquitted Nawaz Sharif after the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) informed the court that recent amendments to the law meant that the case was no longer in its preview. His lawyer argued that NAB had malicious intentions while filing the case against his client, who had no involvement in plot allotment. The court has already acquitted Shakil-ur-Rehman, the Jang/Geo media group owner to whom the land was allegedly transferred.

The former Prime Minister's lawyer argued that keeping the proceedings pending against any other accused, including a proclaimed offender, after the acquittal of the prime accused was of no use. The judge accepted the arguments and acquitted Mr. Nawaz Sharif in the case. NAB had accused Nawaz Sharif, who was the chairman of Lahore Development (LDA) in 1986, of misusing his authority and rendering undue benefit to Rehman by approving the exemption of 54 plots in a single block situated at canal bank H-Block of M A Jauhar Town, Lahore.

It was alleged that this caused a loss of Rs 143 million to the national exchequer. Nawaz Sharif, the ruling PML-N supremo, has been living in self-exile in the United Kingdom since November 2019. He was serving a seven-year jail term in the Al-Azizia Mills corruption case before he was granted a four-week bail by the Lahore High Court on medical grounds. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan alleged that former army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa had manoeuvred Sharif's ouster from jail and later struck a deal with him. The PML-N, however, maintains that its supreme leader will return to Pakistan once the date of the general elections is announced. The elections are scheduled for October when the tenure of the current government ends on August 13.