Friday's decision by a five-judge panel of the court was not surprising as many legal experts and opposition leaders were expecting punitive measures against Sharif and his family. In 2012, the court convicted the then-Premier Yusuf Raza Gilani in a contempt case, forcing him to step down. Pakistan's Supreme Court is set to announce its much-awaited decision on the political fate of beleaguered Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif after weighing whether adequate evidence existed to dismiss him from office on allegations of corruption against his family.