A spokesperson for the interior ministry said Monday that it is baseless to blame the interior ministry for leaking of a photograph of the prime minister’s son, Hussain Nawaz, apparently showing him waiting to or appearing before the Panama Papers joint investigation team (JIT), on social media.

The photograph, which appears to be a screen grab from a CCTV feed, bears the date of Mr Hussain’s first appearance before the joint investigation team (JIT) on May 28. It shows the PM’s son sitting by himself in a plain room on the premises of the Federal Judicial Academy, ostensibly facing his questioners.

"The security of the judicial academy is the responsibility of the Islamabad police and none of the interior ministry's departments have access to the JIT office or films," the spokesperson said in a statement.

"It is inappropriate that people are playing politics on a such a sensitive issue," the statement said.

"According to the same logic, is everything that happens within Bani Gala the responsibility of Islamabad police or the interior ministry too?" the statement said.

PTI calls photo part of 'scheme to sabotage JIT'

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf's (PTI) Shafqat Mahmood lashed out at the PML-N, alleging that the scheme to sabotage the JIT has been "fully exposed".

"This isn't PML-N's first attempt at sabotaging the JIT," Mahmood said.

"The media cell being used to create controversy around the the JIT and the Supreme Court is the same as the one that has been maligning the armed forces," Mahmood claimed.

Mahmood further alleged that the photo was first shared through 'fake' social media accounts and as soon as it surfaced on these websites, PML-N leaders started associating PTI with the leak.

"They are trying to associate the leak to PTI to malign the JIT's reputation and hinder its progress," Mahmood added.

Information Minister shows concern over the photo's "illegal publication"

Yesterday, expressing serious concerns over the photo’s “illegal publication”, Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb had called it “demeaning and a serious breach of investigation rules”.

“Since the JIT is functioning under the supervision of the judiciary, it is the responsibility of the judges to take cognisance of such things, which are creating doubts about the working of the JIT. We have already expressed our reservations before the SC in this regard,” Dr Musadik Malik, the spokesperson for the prime minister, had told Dawn on Sunday.