ISLAMABAD, April 13 (Xinhua) -- The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Friday disqualified former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for lifetime from holding any public office.
A five-member bench delivered the verdict on the question of the period of the disqualification.
The court had disqualified Sharif as prime minister over corruption charges last year, but it had not mentioned the disqualification period in the verdict that was delivered on July 28, 2017.
The ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) of Sharif rejected the verdict and said the former prime minister was "punished for eliminating terrorism and carrying out development projects."
The minister told reporters in Islamabad that the verdict will not affect the PML-N's performance and the party will be victorious in the coming parliamentary elections, which are scheduled for July this year.
An influential opposition leader, Jahangir Tareen, who belongs to Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI) or Justice Movement, was also declared disqualified for life under the judgment.
However, he said that the apex court's Friday ruling on lifetime disqualification is "not applicable" in his case.
Another leader from the PTI, Naeemul Haque, said that "we respect the decision of the Supreme Court, but the cases of Nawaz Sharif and Jahangir Tareen were different because the latter was not in government."
According to local media reports, the decision is likely to affect over 30 other politicians who were disqualified by different courts in the past and they were waiting for the decision over the disqualification period.