Political Leaders Sentenced on Fridays: An Analysis

Islamabad:Sentencing political leaders in various cases by courts is not a new phenomenon in Pakistan’s history. However, it is intriguing that some political leaders receive their verdicts specifically on Fridays. Even the leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and three-time Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was sentenced on a Friday.

Interestingly, former Prime Minister and founder of the Pakistan Peoples Party, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, used to observe an official holiday on Fridays during his tenure. However, Nawaz Sharif discontinued the official Friday holiday during his tenure and instead issued orders to continue official business as usual on Fridays, maintaining a standard workday.

**Important Court Decisions on Fridays:**

**July 28, 2017:**
On a Friday, the Supreme Court of Pakistan issued a landmark decision in the Panama Case, which resulted in the disqualification of Nawaz Sharif from the office of Prime Minister and rendered him ineligible to hold any government office. This decision significantly altered the course of national politics, and prior to this decision, no other significant verdict was expected to be announced on a Friday.

**July 6, 2018:**
Maryam Nawaz, current Chief Minister of Punjab, and her husband, retired Captain (R) Safdar, were also sentenced on a Friday in the Avenfield Reference Case by Islamabad’s Accountability Court Judge Arshad Malik. Nawaz Sharif received a 10-year sentence, an 8 million-pound fine, Maryam Nawaz received 7 years in prison, and an 2 million-pound fine, and Captain Safdar was sentenced to one year in prison.

**July 31, 2009:**
On Friday, the Supreme Court declared the imposition of martial law by former Army Chief General (R) Pervez Musharraf on November 3, 2007, across the country as unconstitutional and illegal and had issued a non-lawful and unconstitutional decision for General Pervez Musharraf was indicted.

**December 15, 2017:**
On a Friday, the Supreme Court declared the ruling party in the public contract, the Federal Court disqualified of the National of Tehreek-e-Insaf Khan.