ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Bollywood superstars Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Amitabh Bachchan faced criticizm after a massive leak of millions of documents disclosed details of the asset-hiding arrangements of wealthy people.

Bachchans featured among the more than 500 Indian with connections to offshore financial firms in Panama.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has promised to prosecute those who evade taxes and to bring back money parked in tax havens but his government has made little progress on that front.

On Monday, Sharif’s family defended their ownership of offshore companies after they were named in the Panama Papers.

Revenue generation is particularly sensitive for Pakistan’s government, which is receiving a $6.6 billion bailout package from the IMF and has a tax-to-GDP ratio of 11 percent, among the lowest in the world.

Among those named are three of Sharif’s four children — Maryam, who has been tipped to be his political successor; Hasan and Hussain, with the records showing they owned London real estate through offshore companies administered by the firm.

The center is partnered with the Investigative Consortium of Independent Journalists, which spent months poring over the documents before Sunday’s online release.

“There are more than 200 Pakistanis which our report has identified, and they include lawyers, lawmakers and some people from the judiciary,” Umar Cheema of the Center for Investigative Reporting in Pakistan, told AFP.

Opposition leader Imran Khan called for action against Sharif.

“Our stance vindicated again as Sharif’s wealth stashed abroad exposed,” he tweeted, adding the country’s accountability watchdog, tax authorities and election commission must take action.

But Sharif’s son Hussain told the country’s largest private broadcaster Geo his family had done “nothing wrong.”

“Those apartments are ours and those offshore companies are also ours,” he said.

“There is nothing wrong with it and I have never concealed them, nor do I need to do that.

“It is according to British law and laws of other countries that it is a legal way to avoid unnecessary tax via offshore companies.”

Hussain said he left Pakistan in 1992 and therefore is not resident, adding Pakistani tax law “says that if you are not staying in Pakistan for more than 138 days, then you are not required to declare your assets.”

Regarding Khan’s call for the National Accountability Bureau to investigate, he said “we voluntarily present ourselves before it or any other judicial and investigative institution in Pakistan.”

Related report — Page 9