Top leaders make the most of #Toshakhana largesse as #records declassified since 2002
ISLAMABAD (MNP) – The federal government has declassified the Toshakhana gifts’ records since 2002 for the first time in country’s history.
A 446-page record of Toshakhana gifts from 2002 to March 2023 has been released and it includes details of the gifts of the presidents, prime ministers and federal ministers. During the ongoing year, the incumbent government received 59 gifts.
According to the record released by the government, 224 gifts were received in Toshakhana in 2022, 116 in 2021, 175 in 2018 and 91 gifts were received in 2014. As many as 177 gifts were received by government officials in 2015.
On Thursday, the federal cabinet had decided to make the details of records of Toshakhana, a state repository that stores gifts received by public officeholders from other governments and foreign dignitaries, public. Defence Minister Khawaja Asif made an announcement to the effect.
Mr Asif took to Twitter, stating: “The cabinet has allowed declassification of Toshakhana record. It would soon be posted on website of the cabinet division.”
The Toshakhana department was established in 1978 and all the public officeholders, including parliamentarians and bureaucrats, are bound to report the gifts to the Cabinet Division. The department came under the spotlight when proceedings were initiated against former prime minister Imran Khan for “not sharing details” of Toshakhana gifts retained by him.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has also disqualified the PTI chief as member of the National Assembly in the Toshakhana case for not disclosing the gifts last year. A districts and sessions court in the federal capital is hearing a criminal case against him for concealing details of the gifts he retained while serving as the prime minister.
