Pakistan's Supreme Court on Thursday ruled there insufficient evidence to order Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's removal from office over corruption allegations levelled by the opposition and ordered further investigations.
A verdict to remove Sharif would have left his party in power but would, nevertheless, have sparked turmoil at a time when Pakistan is experiencing modest growth and improved security after years of violence, and the civilian government and powerful military have appeared to come to uneasy terms.
Pakistan's stock market jumped after the ruling with the benchmark KSE 100 gaining almost 2 percent. Sharif is seen as pro-business.
Two of five judges on the court bench recommended that Sharif should step down but they were out voted.
The court ordered a joint investigation team be formed to look into allegations around Sharif's children using offshore companies to buy properties in London.
Sharif and his children deny any wrongdoing.
Police in riot gear surrounded the court in the capital, Islamabad, as it delivered its verdict and some protesters urged Sharif to step down with shouts of ‘Go Nawaz, Go Nawaz’.
The Supreme Court agreed last year to investigate the Sharif family's offshore wealth after opposition leader Imran Khan threatened street protests following the leaking of the ‘Panama Papers’.
Documents leaked from the Panama-based Mossack Fonseca law firm appeared to show that Sharif's daughter and two sons owned offshore holding companies registered in the British Virgin Islands and used them to buy properties in London.
Sharif told parliament last year that his family wealth was acquired legally in the decades before he entered politics and that no money was siphoned off-shore.
Khan's party said before the ruling that it would not launch a new street movement if it was disappointed by the judgement.
=========Pakistan awaits Supreme Court ruling that could disqualify PMPolice in riot gear on Thursday surrounded Pakistan's highest court in the capital, Islamabad, as it prepared to deliver a decision that could unseat Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif over corruption allegations related to the Panama Papers leaks.Such a move would leave Sharif's party in power, but trigger intense turmoil just when the economy is showing modest growth and security has improved as the civilian government and the powerful military have appeared to come to uneasy terms.
Police barred people from entering the court precincts as a five-member bench prepared to hand down the highly anticipated ruling at 2 p.m. (0900 GMT) after nearly two months of deliberation and arguments.
Pakistan's stock market rose nearly 250 points on Thursday, after having closed up 1.6 percent the previous day, showing investors are confident the court will not rule Sharif ineligible to be prime minister.
The case against Sharif stems from documents leaked from the Panama-based Mossack Fonseca law firm, which appeared to show that his daughter and two sons owned offshore holding companies and used them to buy properties in London.
The ‘Panama Papers’ were published last year by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).
‘The prime minister's name was not in the ICIJ Panama Papers, his children's were, and there's no connection between the children's finances and his, because they file separate taxes,’ said parliamentarian Danyal Aziz, a member of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N).
Last year, Sharif told parliament his family wealth was acquired legally in the decades before he entered politics.
Interest in the case has remained intense, with Pakistani television focusing on predictions about the decision and social media circulating spurious versions of verdicts purported to have been leaked.