ISLAMABAD: As the hearing of the Panamagate case resumed on Wednesday, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan stressed that the ruling party had not provided adequate evidence to substantiate its case.

At a press conference, Mr Khan said there was no money trail of $3 million transferred by the prime minister`s family from Dubai to London. `There is no supporting document that [shows] how this money reached London 26 years ago,` he said.

The prime minister`s statement clashed with those forwarded by his children, he claimed. Maryam Nawaz, the PM`s daughter, had mentioned in an interview that she did not own property within the country or abroad.

`Hassan and Hussain Nawaz and Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif have said in their statements that the Sharif family purchased London flats, but a letter from the Qatari prince gives a new twist in that the property was [bought after] a settlementbetween the Sharif and Qatari families,` he said.

Mr Khan said the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, the Federal Investigation Agency, a German newspaper and BBC had confirmed that Maryam Nawaz was the beneficiary owner of the London properties. `Now the government is protecting Maryam because Nawaz Sharif`s money [was usedj...to purchase [property] in London under Maryam`s name,` he said.

The counsel for PM Nawaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz and Hussain Nawaz were shifting the responsibility for providing a money trail on each others` clients, Mr Khan claimed.

`Earlier, [the] Sharifs had claimed that they were ready to give details of the assets [owned] by three generations, but in the court, they were reluctant to provide details [of the properties owned by] even one generation, he said.

State organisations including the National Accountability Bureau, the Federal Investigation Agency and the Federal Board of Revenue were protecting the prime minister instead of investigating the case. `These agen-cies are...protecting Nawaz Sharif till he is in power.

He said the PM and the Qatari prince were business partners and the present regime had awarded a $200m contract of Port Qasim to a Qatari firm. `That means that Nawaz Sharif has awarded himself the contract on a single bid basis,` he said.

Responding to a question regarding the outcome of the case, Mr Khan said he would accept whatever decision the Supreme Court would announce because the judges of the apex court knew more about the case than the lawyers. `I personally believe that the Supreme Court can decide this case on its own,` he added.

On the other hand, Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb said Mr Khan appeared before the Supreme Court everyday but failed to present any evidence against the prime minister. `Today he said it seemed that the flats in London were purchased in 2006,` she said.

Talal Chaudhry of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz added that the people were getting fed up and the judges of the Supreme Court were falling ill from the `lies` told by Mr Khan.