Pakistan falls into political chaos as the country’s Supreme Court has ordered Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to stand down from his office due to a long-running scandal surrounding his family’s wealth. The Supreme Court upheld the findings of a special investigation team which revealed that Mr. Sharif’s family assets, including several flats overlooking London’s Hyde Park, could not be clearly accounted for and had been deliberately hidden from tax authorities. That conclusion was sufficient for the court to disqualify Mr. Sharif from his office under the terms of Pakistan’s constitution. The ruling was announced amid tight security in the court, where more than 3,000 police and paramilitary troops were present. In its ruling, the court has also ordered the country’s National Accountability Bureau, Pakistan’s main corruption investigating agency, to prepare cases within six weeks so pursue criminal corruption charges against Mr. Sharif’s three adult children, and his son-in-law.

The move could bring forward the country’s election, which was not due until early 2018. Mr. Sharif who is now stepping down for the third time has battled the corruption allegations since 2015 when leaked documents from Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca were found to contain extensive details about his family’s financial affairs.

The political turmoil comes at a time, when geopolitical tensions are on the rise, with its neighbor India.