Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) on Friday said it will file a reference asking for the removal of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman from his post over his alleged failure to carry out investigations in the Panama leaks case, as pointed out by the Supreme Court.

The announcement in this regard was made by PTI spokesperson Fawad Chaudhry while addressing a press conference in the federal capital. “The reference will be filed under Article 209,” he said.

He said that the PML-N leaders have not thoroughly read the decision.

“The ruling states that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will appear before the JIT, along with his sons, as a criminal,” Chaudhry said.

If Nawaz Sharif had any moral standing or courage, he would have had resigned by now, the PTI spokesperson said.

Earlier in the day, PTI Chairman Imran Khan announced his party's intention to hold a rally in Islamabad next Friday to "demand Nawaz Sharif's resignation".

Speaking to reporters outside the National Assembly, Khan posed the question: "How will the PML-N confront the public after the comments made in the Supreme Court judgement?"

"I asked the PML-N supporters, what were you distributing sweets for yesterday? You should have read the full judgement," he said.

Khan's announcement came a day after the Supreme Court's decision on the Panamagate case said it would constitute a Joint Investigation Team to probe the Sharif family's wealth.

What was initially hailed as a win by the PML-N later became an embarrassment for the party as its opposition touted the 2:3 split verdict — neither a clean chit, nor a disqualification — with a strongly-worded dissenting note by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa as an indication that the court had been unable to find Nawaz Sharif innocent.