The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday directed the federal government to submit details of all gifts taken from the Toshakhana since 1947 by political leaders and bureaucrats.
Issuing his ruling on a plea submitted by citizen Munir Ahmed, Justice Asim Hafeez said the government must submit the necessary details by Jan. 16, adding that it should also provide a list of who had purchased what from the Toshakhana over the past 75 years.
Earlier, during the hearing into the case, government lawyer Sheraz Zaka claimed that details related to the Toshakhana were classified and could not be publicly shared. Rubbishing this stance, the court directed the government to submit the details, adding that the “court will decide whether or not [the information] is classified.”
In his plea, petitioner Ahmed had argued that it was the right of the people of Pakistan to know the details of every public transaction indulged in by government officials and political leaders. In addition to details on the gifts received and purchased, he had said the government should also provided details of the methodology employed to determine the price of items received by the Toshakhana.
Established in 1974, the Toshakhana falls under the purview of the Cabinet Division and retains any gifts given by foreign states and dignitaries to rulers, parliamentarians, bureaucrats, and officials. The department has come under increasing public scrutiny over the past year due to ongoing proceedings against ousted prime minister Imran Khan over failing to disclose details of Toshakhana gifts and proceeds from their sale. The Election Commission of Pakistan, earlier this year, disqualified him from holding public office over making “false statements and incorrect declaration” about the gifts he had purchased from the Toshakhana before selling them.
Last week, an alleged audio leak of Khan’s wife, Bushra Bibi, emerged on social media in which she appears to criticize an employee for taking photos of Toshakhana gifts when they were sent to the Bani Gala residence. Stressing that photos should only be taken of gifts that leave Khan’s residence, she can be heard dismissing the employee from service for taking the photos.
Khan is currently facing in an Islamabad court a “corrupt practices” case over the sale of gifts he obtained from the Toshakhana.