Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was barred for life from holding office, said a Supreme Court ruling on Friday. Supreme Court Justice Umar Ata Bandial described the ban on Sharif, 67, as "permanent" in a judgment read to the court, clarifying the length of an earlier ruling that disqualified the former premier from office. The Supreme Court barred Sharif, 67, from politics in July over an undeclared source of income, but the veteran leader maintains his grip on the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party, even though he is no longer its leader. Friday’s ruling was the latest in a series of blows to Sharif who was ousted from the premiership over graft allegations last July. Sharif and his family have called the corruption proceedings a conspiracy, hinting at intervention by the military, but opponents have hailed them as a rare example of the rich and powerful being held accountable. The military denies any such intervention. The decision was immediately panned by the PML-N. "Today once again, the three-time elected prime minister of Pakistan has been disqualified for life," state minister and Sharif ally Marriyum Aurangzeb told reporters outside the court. “But people of Pakistan will decide whether the disqualification of an elected prime minister is for one day or for life,” she added. She told reporters “nameless and faceless people” had interfered to orchestrate Sharif’s political demise and the downfall of the PML-N. His allies have called the corruption probe proceedings a political vendetta. “It’s a significant decision because it will ... also have implications for the future,” senior lawyer and former president of Pakistan Wasim Sajjad told Reuters. “If it is found by a court of law that any person wanting to be a member of parliament has furnished particulars which are found false or omitted to furnish particulars which are necessary, then he will come under that category of persons disqualified for life.” Last month, Nawazs brother Shahbaz Sharif formally took charge of the PML-N after an earlier court ruling banned the former premier from heading the party. Sharif has served as prime minister three times and each time was removed from office - in 1993 by presidential order, in 1999 by a military coup that saw him jailed and later exiled before returning when General Pervez Musharraf stepped down, and in 2017 over the corruption probe. Sharif was the 15th prime minister in Pakistans 70-year history -- roughly half of it under military rule -- to be removed before completing a full term. The court ruling comes months ahead of expected general elections, pitting the PML-N against its main rival, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party led by former cricket star Imran Khan. Despite the numerous court rulings against the PML-N, the party has won a string of recent by-elections proving it will likely remain a force in the next polls.