LHC orders govt to public Toshakhana records from 1990-2001

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday ordered the government to make the complete record of Toshakhana gifts received by public office holders from 1990 to 2001 public, ARY News reported.

Justice Asim Hafeez issued order while hearing a petition filed by Munir Ahmad through Advocate Azhar Siddique seeking the government to make public the complete details of Toshakhana gifts public.

During today’s hearing, the judge said that nothing should be hidden from public now, adding that any gifts received by the country from friendly nations should also be made public

Established in 1974, the Toshakhana is a department under the administrative control of the Cabinet Division and stores precious gifts given to rulers, parliamentarians, bureaucrats, and officials by heads of other governments and states and foreign dignitaries.

On March 12, the federal government declassified the Toshakhana records and uploaded the 466-page data from 2002 to 2023 on the Cabinet Division’s website.

Those who acquired gifts from Toshakhana include former presidents, prime ministers, ministers and government officers.

The names that appeared in the publicised Toshakhan records included Pervez Musharraf, Shaukat Aziz, Yousaf Raza Gillani, Nawaz Sharif, Imran Khan, Arif Alvi and Shehbaz Sharif.

he Toshakhana controversy caught media attention after former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan was accused of hiding details of the gifts he received during his tenure in the government.

Last year in June, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had constituted a ministerial committee to redesign the Toshakhana policy.