The prime minister's daughter, Maryam Nawaz, on Monday evening issued a strongly-worded statement on behalf of the PML-N regarding the Panamagate joint investigation team's report submitted earlier in the day, saying:
"JIT report REJECTED. Every contradiction will not only be contested but decimated in SC. NOT a penny of public exchequer involved: PMLN."
Her tweet followed a press conference conducted by four senior PML-N leaders, who had taken turns to criticise the JIT report as 'serving Imran Khan's agenda'.
The Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal, appearing in the press conference, had strongly rejected the Panamagate joint investigation team's (JIT) report as "worthless trash".
Setting the focus on the fact that the report focused on the Sharif family's personal businesses rather than mismanagement or corruption while holding public office, the minister termed it a compilation of political accusations against the government.
"This report is a political statement which reads like an Imran-nama," the minister said.
Barrister Zafarullah Khan, also speaking in the press conference, concurred, saying: “It is not a JIT report, it is rather a PTI report.”
"Four out of the six members of the JIT had no prior experience in handling legal investigations,” he added, attempting to undermine its credibility.
He also resorted to personal attacks against individual members of the JIT, accusing them of being anti PML-N. He further accused the JIT of witness tampering and attempting to twist the investigation to suit its ends.
"We hope the Supreme Court bench will send this report into the trash bin, where it rightfully belongs," he concluded.
Defence Minister Khawaja Asif then took the mic, saying that nothing in the report can be verified or be admissible as evidence as it is based on information provided by sources.
“The JIT report has relied heavily on the statements of [PPP's ex interior minister] Rehman Malik. I think taking his name is enough to reveal the plot behind it [JIT report],” said Defence Minister Khawaja Asif.
"We will destroy every allegation raised in the report one by one," Asif said.
Petroleum Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said the party had previously expressed its reservations regarding the attitude of the JIT, saying the government had "expected" the JIT to submit something similar.
"There are so many contradictions in this report that anybody who reads it objectively will understand its true purpose," he said.
