Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's cousin, Tariq Shafi, made a second appearance before the joint investigation team (JIT) probing the Sharif family on Sunday.

Shafi was driven to the Federal Judicial Academy in Islamabad ─ where the JIT Secretariat is ─ by Water and Power Minister Abid Sher Ali.

Shafi, speaking to reporters after his JIT appearance, said that he had been questioned regarding the Sharif family's Gulf Steel Mills.

He added that he had not been summoned by the JIT again, and that no new documents had been provided to the probe team.

Dawn earlier cited insiders saying that Shafi would be re-examined over his statements recorded during his earlier appearance before the body.

Shafi previously appeared before the JIT on May 15 to record his statement.

Insiders earlier told DawnNews that the JIT had summoned members of Sharif family for the second time after investigators found contrast between statements recorded by them and the documents submitted by relevant government departments.

The powerful six-member team tasked with probing the business dealings of the Sharif family is entering a crucial stage, with the investigation heading towards conclusion.

Sources told Dawn the JIT was in the process of winding up the probe by next week, after which it would finish compiling the final investigation report by the second week of July before it was submitted to the apex court by the July 10 deadline.

Read more: Panama Papers JIT probe enters crucial, concluding stage

On Saturday, the JIT in its meeting reviewed the documents pertaining to the business and tax records of the Sharif family that were submitted by Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) and Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).

The JIT has also summoned the prime minister’s daughter, Maryam Nawaz Sharif, to appear before it on July 5, a move that the ruling party has termed as an “egoistic decision”, but has agreed to comply with the summons.

Maryam will be the seventh member of her family summoned so far in connection with the ongoing investigation into money laundering allegations.

The JIT summoned her brothers Hussain and Hassan on July 3 and 4, respectively. Hussain Nawaz has already appeared before the JIT five times since May 28.

Other family members of the Sharif family who have appeared before the JIT include Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, his brother Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, the PM’s son-in-law retired captain Mohammad Safdar.

The JIT was formed by the Supreme Court after its verdict on the Panama Papers case was split 3-2 among a five-judge bench, with the two dissenting notes in the judgment authored by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa and Justice Gulzar Ahmed.

The two judges had ruled against Sharif, saying he should be disqualified, whereas the other three were in favour of forming a JIT.

Despite the hype over the JIT and its ongoing investigations, legal and investigation experts feel the report, once it is presented to the court, will simply be the beginning of a long process.

Legal experts feel that the JIT’s report, once it is completed, may lead to further hearings.