Chief Justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar has appointed Justice Ijazul Ahsan as the "monitoring judge to supervise and monitor the implementation" of the Panamagate case and oversee the proceedings by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and accountability courts.

This appointment was announced in a notification issued by the Supreme Court deputy registrar on Tuesday.

Since Justice Ijazul Ahsan is currently abroad, Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan will act on his behalf, read the notification. Justice Ahsan and Justice Khan were part of the bench that heard the Panamagate case.

Last week, in the much-awaited Panamagate verdict, the SC had disqualified Nawaz Sharif from holding office of the prime minister over non-declaration of an Iqama — a United Arab Emirates work visa — in his nomination papers for general elections in 2013.

The five-member bench had ordered NAB to file multiple references against the Sharif family and former finance minister Ishaq Dar within six weeks of the judgement, and requested the chief justice to appoint a judge to oversee the implementation of the order.

NAB had approved filing four references in line with the SC order on Monday, but decided not to file a reference regarding Hudaibiya Paper Mills, reasoning that the case had already been decided by the Lahore High Court.

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