LAHORE - Federal Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid yesterday levelled counter allegations against PTI leaders, who, according to him, were also running offshore companies.

Addressing a Press conference here in Lahore alongwith Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique and MNA Talal Chaudhry, he said that PTI chief Imran Khan had turned a blind eye on the corruption of his party men, Jahangir Tareen and Aleem Khan.

“Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, on the other hand, has presented himself before the Commission for probe into Panama leaks because he has clean record”, he remarked. Information Minister said that the business of Sharif family was well established before the creation of Pakistan.

He said those who had gathered black money were now creating hurdles in the constitution of probe commission consisting of Supreme Court judges.

He said that those questioning about the seed money for the business of Nawaz Sharif's sons were tampering the truth and had conveniently forgotten the accountability of Sharif family in the past when the State confiscated their assets and nationalised their factories.

He explained that the forensic audit of assets of Sharif family had been done thrice during Musharraf era and twice during the PPP era.

Pervaiz said the PML-N leadership had nothing to worry about as it had faced forensic audits during the Benazir Bhutto and Pervaiz Musharraf regimes.

It was time to conduct DNA test of those who were leveling baseless allegations, he added.

Pervaiz Rashid said that during the period of dictatorship, Nawaz Sharif's family was forced to live in exile.

He said his elder son Hussain was confined in Jeddah while the younger one Hassan in London and their passports were also confiscated. They settled there and started their business.

Speaking on the occasion, Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique said PTI Chairman Imran Khan was sowing seeds of hatred in the country's politics.

He said that PTI rejected the verdict of the Judicial Commission which probed 2013 allegations of rigging and never bothered to apologise later.

PML-N leader Talal Chaudhry said that PTI leaders also owned off shore companies, due to which the PTI was now running away from the formation of the commission.

PTI FAILED TO GATHER EVEN FEW THOUSANDS IN LAHORE

APP adds: Minister for Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage Senator Pervaiz Rashid said the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leaders, who were making claims of gathering whole of Lahore, could not gather even a few thousand people.

Reacting to the speech of PTI chief Imran Khan in Lahore, he said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif presented his children for accountability. He said there was difference between the businesses of Hussain Nawaz and Jehangir Tareen. The former did not get his loans written off while the latter had done the same, he added. The minister said Imran Khan was talking about improving hospitals in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for the last three years. He said due to virus in auto teller machines (ATMs) the face of Imran Khan had grown pale. His container would become his political graveyard, he remarked.