ISLAMABAD: Senator Aitzaz Ahsan of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) on Monday lashed out at Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and demanded forensic audit of his assets keeping in view the reports of the Panama Papers. As the stormy joint session of the parliament continued on Monday, National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq rejected opposition’s demand to discuss the Panama leaks. However, the combined opposition managed to debate the issue. Speaking on Panama leaks during the joint sitting of the parliament, the opposition leader in the Senate said that Sharif went to Jeddah on a secret agreement and established a steel mill there with the help of a loan. Later, the steel mill was sold and two companies were bought in British Virginia and a Panama firm supported the Sharif family. Then the Sharif family purchased properties not in its name, but in the name of registered companies and these properties exist since 1995-96 and evidence in this regard is available. He cited a statement of the State Bank of Pakistan as saying that the Chaudhry Sugar Mills owned by the prime minister took a loan of $20 million in the 1990s. A Faisal Bank company took the loan and the beneficiary was the Nawaz Sharif sugar mill. He said the liability was borne by the company owned by Faisal Bank and the Chaudhry Sugar Mills used the funds. Ahsan asked that why did a company take a loan for Sharif? He said the management and the board of the Faisal Bank should be asked why did they get such a loan to Sharif. He said it was an open fraud and should be investigated. He asked did the State Bank of Pakistan investigate this issue? He said that seven brothers owned Ittefaq Foundry, but what was the fate of six others? Was anyone of them a big businessman like Sharif? He said that PML-N leader Siddique al-Farooq had admitted that Sharif lived at Park Lane, London some time ago. About the inquiry commission announced by the PM, Ahsan said that several commissions were formed in the past, but the result was zero. He said that retired judges refused to head the commission. The opposition senator asked that how did Sharif’s son set up four offshore companies at the age of 13. He said there was nothing illegal about these companies, but the nation should be informed about the sources of their funding. He said there were properties in the name of Sharif and added that the main purpose of the offshore companies was to keep ownership secret and also the source of funding. He said that apartment numbers 16, 16A, and 17 etc were purchased by the Sharif family. “Let us suppose that these transactions were legitimate; just satisfy the house how the money reached there,” he said. “If the source of funding is not legitimate, then you (the Sharif family) committed theft, tax evasion and how will you ask the others to pay the taxes?” he asked. He demanded that the government should carry out a forensic audit of the assets through international firms to find out the source of income and how it was transferred abroad. He said that World Bank’s Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative could also probe the matter. Reacting strongly to Ahsan’s speech, PML-N Senator Mushahidullah Khan said, “You did not support Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, how would you support the PML-N government?” He said that PPP’s five-year tenure was full of corruption, but Ahsan never spoke about it. Later, the joint session passed the Pakistan International Airlines Corporation (Conversion) Bill 2016. The parliamentarians of the Awami National Party (ANP) staged a walkout, saying that they were not consulted on the issue.