Panama Papers: Pak PM Nawaz Sharif forms high-level probe panel

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday formed a high-level judicial commission a day after three of his children were named in the 'Panama Papers' for owning offshore companies which had prompted the opposition to demand a probe.

The judicial commission will be led by a retired Supreme Court judge, said the premier.

Mr Sharif alleged that certain individuals had indulged in point scoring and digging up old issues from decades ago.

"My family has faced a barrage of accusations. My family was not involved in politics till much later, as such, even before I got into politics, we were an established industrial family," the prime minister said.

Mr Sharif also challenged all those hurling allegations against him and his family to present evidence of any financial wrongdoing before the commission, the Dawn reported.

A massive leak of 11.5 million secret tax documents from a Panamanian law firm that specialises in offshore tax havens has exposed the covert offshore dealings of around 140 political figures globally including the Sharif family.

The vast stash of records, covering around 40 years, was obtained from an anonymous source by German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung and shared with media worldwide by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).

Documents on the ICIJ website said Mr Sharif's children - Mariam, Hasan and Hussain - "were owners or had the right to authorise transactions for several companies".