The Lahore High Court (LHC) has dismissed a 26-year-old petition accusing Prime Minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif of money laundering. The five-member bench rejected Syed Javed Iqbal Jafree’s petition as not “maintainable”. The original petition, which first came before the court in 1991, claimed that the PM, who was also the PM at the time, had stashed $ 7 billion in foreign bank accounts and implied that all this wealth is illegally acquired. On Friday, Jafree asked the court to disqualify Nawaz Sharif from holding office and make him illegible to take part in elections. During a hearing earlier in May, the judges asked Jafree to make his case more substantial before presenting it to the court. The mere fact that the PM had money in foreign bank accounts does not necessarily implicate him in a money laundering case. If it was obvious that the petitioner did not have substantial evidence to give the case merit, it should have been dismissed years ago. The fact that a case can be delayed unnecessarily for so long that it is no longer relevant, points to serious flaws in Pakistan’s legal system.During the history of this case, judges have deferred it to be considered by other benches, making various excuses including the reason that such a high profile case should be considered by a larger bench. Perhaps the reason that this case was repeatedly delayed and presented before different judicial benches was because no judge wanted to be associated with a criminal case involving a key political player. Could this be a reflection of how the rich and powerful in this country can evade the law because courts are fearful of indicting them? Nevertheless, this case has also taken so long to be resolved largely due to procedural failings in the justice system. These flaws most severely affect the most disenfranchised sections of Pakistani society, such as the poor, women from the lower classes and minorities, who do not have the financial resources or clout to make their voices heard. Injustices against these marginalised segments of society most often go unpunished and the offenders get off scot-free. Although it is surprising that this particular case has lingered for over two decades, it is not unusual for cases to become trapped in legislative purgatory for years, causing the matters to become irrelevant or making it impossible for the petitioners to continue paying legal fees. For this reason, the poor and weak often do not even seek justice for crimes committed against them and continue to live in fear. The time has come to make the legal system of Pakistan more efficient and ensure timely justice for all. *