Senior PML-N ministers addressed a press conference Tuesday evening in an effort to counter rising political pressure on the bigwigs of the ruling party.

The crux of the PML-N's message was that the Supreme Court-sanctioned joint investigation team (JIT) that had investigated the Sharif family's business dealings had submitted a flawed report, which would be challenged in court. One minister went so far as to term the report a product of a wide-ranging conspiracy, alleging that the strings were being pulled by unnamed actors — some of them abroad.

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar opened the press conference with a suggestion for concerned parties to exercise restraint.

"Yesterday, the Supreme Court took notice of what is being said in the media about the case. Everyone should show patience like we have," he said.

"The JIT report is not final," he continued.

"There are significant gaps in the report, as much as we have seen it. There are photocopies [included in the report], some of which are not signed and which the JIT itself asks the Supreme Court to determine whether they hold any evidentiary value."

The minister also remarked that the report doesn't prove Nawaz Sharif's ownership of any off-shore company.

"While our [legal team] team is working [on the report], I am putting my portion in front of you right now," the finance minister recalled.

Dar proceeded to recount his experience with the JIT, claiming he only found out on July 3 that his tax returns from 1981-2002 had not been provided to the team by the Federal Bureau of Revenue.

"I told them that I will take disciplinary action against those who did not provide you with the requisite documents and I will send you the documents," he claimed to have told the JIT.

"I told them that my tax guy had told me that after Gen Musharraf's coup, my tax record had been seized by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). I told them that NAB is your institution and you should find it; and if you cannot find it then I will find it on my own. I retrieved my tax records and sent them my returns from 2003-7 immediately on the same day," he claimed.

"At 8.55pm, they were delivered to the JIT. I have the receipt," he claimed.

The finance minister then detailed his 'hectic efforts' to dig out old records from NAB's Lahore and Islamabad offices and send the same to the FBR.

Dar proceeded to contradict each of the conclusions drawn by the JIT after interrogating him, insisting that all his wealth can be traced and his statements audited.

"I challenge them that my record will be reconciled till the last penny," he claimed.

Railways Minister Saad Rafique took the mic next, starting his bit by saying that the JIT should have presented anything they had against each respondent to the accused individuals.

Also read: PM's assets saw 'exorbitant hike' during his first tenure: JIT report

"The basic rule for every investigation is that you should present anything you have against an accused," he said.

"The JIT's report is based in part on some stories, and the rest on making a mountain out of a mole hill," he said.

"One more thing," he continued, "We feel that a JIT consisting of six people cannot have done so much work in 60 days, even if they worked 24 hours a day," Rafique alleged.

"This was a well-planned action and it was in the making for the last year and a half," he claimed.

"Some of the characters of this 'Panama drama' are [pulling the strings from] outside Pakistan," he alleged.

Rafique later built on his 'international conspiracy' remark, claiming that "When Nawaz Sharif decided to go for a nuclear explosion, he knew he would pay for it and did so. Likewise, when he decided on the China Pakistan Economic Corridor, he knew he would pay for it. Some powers do not like this. The game will unfold some day. [Meanwhile] we will fight the legal battle and the political battle," he said.

He also turned his sights on the PPP, saying that the party should "look under its own charpayi" before they started talking about corruption, in an apparent invocation of public perceptions of wrongdoing and misappropriation that have dogged the Asif Ali Zardari-led party.

Turning on Imran Khan, Rafique alleged that the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief had received foreign funding and had yet to explain them to the Election Commission.

In an apparent reference to the Supreme Court summoning transcripts of his recent speeches, Rafique said that "I have been doing speeches since my youth and will continue to do so."

"I request the Supreme Court to [also] take notice of the speeches made by [PPP's] Aitzaz Ahsan, [PTI's] Imran Khan and [AML's] Sheikh Rashid," he added.

Barrister Zafarullah took the mic next to 'clear the air' about the usage of the Calibri font by Maryam Nawaz in a document that was discredited by the JIT because the font was released for public use a year after the document was said to have been authored.

"Please Google and see that [the font] was released in August 2004," the PML-N leader claimed.

Read more: JIT report raises doubts about use of 'Calibri' font in papers submitted by Maryam

Strategy meeting earlier in the day

Top PML-N officials had met earlier at the PM House on Tuesday to discuss the party's legal and political strategy following the submission to the apex court of a damning inquiry report probing the Sharif family's wealth a day earlier.

The 'unofficial' meeting was held to review the Supreme Court-sanctioned joint investigation team's report, according to DawnNews.

Sources said the PML-N's legal team briefed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on the JIT report. Participants of the meeting also discussed points of argument regarding the report that could be raised in court.