PML-N leader and former railways minister Khawaja Saad Rafique on Sunday called for an investigation over the comments made by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan and Awami Muslim League (AML) chief Sheikh Rashid, alleging that they had "maligned the honourable judges".

"Sheikh Rashid claimed that we [PML-N] offered billions of rupees to the honourable judges," he said. "Did anyone question his claims; when and where this money was offered and how he came to know about that?" Rafique asked while addressing a press conference in Lahore.

He went on to say that during a TV programme, Imran Khan claimed that a judge had "requested" him [Khan] to cancel the sit-in that PTI was planning to hold on November 2, 2016, "and come to court instead".

"This is a serious statement and it must be investigated," Rafique maintained.

Earlier, the PTI chief in a message on Twitter called the allegations a "distortion" of his comments.

'Honest and truthful'

"Nawaz Sharif was disqualified because the courts declared that he was not honest and truthful," Rafique said.

"Is everyone else in this country honest and truthful? Are the judges, who took an oath under PCO [Provisional Constitution Order], all honest and truthful? Were the military dictators honest and truthful as well?"

Now that a precedent has been set, everyone will be called into question, the former minister warned.

It was PML-N's mistake to not repeal Article 62/63 from the Constitution, Rafique said, adding that the government didn't take the decision out of fear that the "opposition would accuse them of trying to cover corruption".

"We did not know it will bite back like 58-2(b)," he lamented.

Commenting on the Supreme Court's verdict in the Panama Papers case, the former railway minister said that the decision was unacceptable for the party yet the members had acted upon it.