Security officers outside the Supreme Court building and Parliament in Islamabad on Friday. Credit:AP The ouster of Sharif, 67, who has now served as premier on three separate occasions, also raises questions about Pakistan's fragile democracy. No prime minister has completed a full term in power since independence from British colonial rule in 1947. The court verdict marks a major political victory for the opposition leader Imran Khan, a former cricket star who last year threatened mass street protests unless Sharif's wealth was investigated. Khan had pounced on the leaking of the Panama Papers, which revealed Sharif's family had bought posh London apartments through offshore companies. "Today the people of Pakistan got real justice, a new chapter has begun," Jehangir Khan Tareen, a member of Khan's opposition PTI party, said outside the court.

Pakistan opposition leader Imran Khan (centre). Credit:AP Khan has pestered Sharif and his family to provide the paper trails for the purchase of the apartments. "Show the receipts," is a common slogan of Khan's supporters and party workers. Khan himself is under Supreme Court investigation over allegations he failed to declare sources of income, a charge he denies. The court has also ordered a criminal investigation into the assets of Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, one of Sharif's closest allies, who has been credited with steering the economy to its fastest pace of growth in a decade. Earlier state-run TV and other media reported Dar had been disqualified. Sharif has alleged a conspiracy against him, although he has not named anyone. His allies, however, have privately spoken of elements in the judiciary and the military, with whom Sharif has strained relations, acting against him. The army denies any involvement.

The Supreme Court's five-member panel ruled unanimously that Sharif should be disqualified after an investigative team alleged his family could not account for its vast wealth. "He is no more eligible to be an honest member of the parliament, and he ceases to be holding the office of prime minister," Judge Ejaz Afzal Khan said in court. The court enacted little-used Article 62 of the Constitution, which allows disqualification of any lawmaker found to be dishonest. The court said Sharif failed to declare income from a company in United Arab Emirates ahead of his election in 2013. Sharif's allies say the court has over-stepped its remit and point out that no charge of corruption or abuse of authority has been proved. Nor has he ever been convicted. "Those who are happy and dancing will cry tomorrow," said Abid Sher Ali, a junior minister. "They have stabbed democracy in the back."

Prior to the decision, several cabinet ministers, including Sharif's closest allies, said the ruling party would respect the verdict. "Go, Nawaz, Go," shouted supporters of the PTI opposition party who had gathered outside the court and jeered politicians from Sharif's party. Analysts have warned that another bout of political turmoil would spook foreign investors, who are already reticent to invest in Pakistan, deterred by security fears and a tough business climate. 'Democracy a target' Sharif has always denied any wrongdoing and has dismissed the investigation as biased and inaccurate.

"This is not accountability, it is revenge," tweeted Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafiq hours before the verdict. "In an effort dislodge us, the democratic system has been made a target." Sharif's two previous stints in power were also cut short, including by a military coup in 1999, but he returned from exile to win a resounding victory in general elections in 2013. The Supreme Court ruled in April there was insufficient evidence to remove Sharif from office – by a 3-2 verdict – but it ordered a probe by an investigative panel that included members of the military intelligence agencies. The Joint Investigation Team (JIT) this month returned its findings in a 254-report that said Sharif's family assets did not match their earnings.

Sharif was not named in the Panama Papers, but his sons, Hassan Nawaz Sharif and Hussain Nawaz Sharif, and his daughter, Maryam Nawaz Sharif, were linked to the properties in London. The investigation is particularly damaging for Sharif's daughter, who is seen as his political heir. The investigators say she produced a forged trust deed about the London apartments. The 2006 document claims she was only a trustee and not owner of two offshore companies that bought the apartments. But investigators say it was typed in Calibri font, which was not commercially available to the public until 2007. The investigators also allege that a letter sent by a Qatari royal whose family had been a business partner of Sharif's father is fake. The letter supposedly provided details of their financial dealings. The Supreme Court's decision to include two members of the country's military intelligence agencies as part of the six-person JIT team had fuelled rumours Pakistan's powerful generals had a hidden hand in the probe against Sharif. The military has carefully distanced itself from the proceedings. Analysts expect Sharif to push for one of his allies to form a government until elections are held next year, when his brother Shahbaz, who is the chief minister in Punjab province, may take over the party leadership.

Reuters, New York Times