By Special Correspondent
LAHORE: The Shehbaz Sharif government told the Lahore High Court on Thursday that record of the buyers of the Tosha Khana gifts since 2002 was being “declassified” and would be uploaded on a website. After initial reluctance over submitting the relevant records, the federal government had on February 21 submitted details of the Tosha Khana gifts to the court during hearing of a petition seeking to make Tosha Khana record public. It had also said that it was the court’s discretion if it wants to unseal the record.
Established in 1974, the Tosha Khana is a public department under the administrative control of the Cabinet Division and stores precious gifts given to Pakistani rulers, bureaucrats, parliamentarians and officials by heads of other governments and states and foreign dignitaries. According to Tosha Khana rules, gifts/presents and other such materials received by persons to whom these rules apply shall be reported to the Cabinet Division. Tosha Khana has been in the news in recent months in view of the proceedings against former prime minister and chairman PTI Imran Khan for “not sharing details” of Tosha Khana gifts.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, while in government, had also been reluctant to share details of the gifts retained by Imran Khan since he assumed office of the prime minister in 2018, maintaining that doing so would jeopardise international ties, even as the Pakistan Information Commission (PIC) ordered it to do so.
During the hearing on Thursday, Cabinet Secretary Eazaz Aslam Dar appeared in the court with the Tosha Khana record. The petitioner’s lawyer, Azhar Siddiq was also present there.
As the proceedings started, the Additional Attorney General told Justice Asim Hafeez that the cabinet had declassified the records of the Tosha Khana gifts from 2002. “All the record would be uploaded on a website,” he added. Upon that, the justice asked if the government did not have the records of gifts bought before 2002 to which the lawyer replied that record before 2002 was not computerised.
Justice Hafeez then instructed secretary cabinet to also present the record of Tosha Khana gifts before 2002 in the court. Then, the government lawyer clarified to the court that the record of Tosha Khana buyers were being declassified and not the record of those countries who gave these gifts.
However, Justice Hafeez ordered that the details of “where the gifts came from” should also be submitted to the court in the next hearing. “You will submit this record to us in the chamber,” Justice Asim Hafeez ordered. Subsequently, the court adjourned the hearing until March 13.
The plea
The plea seeking the Tosha Khana details was filed by lawyer Munir Ahmad through Advocate Azhar Siddique in December last year. The plea stated: “The right to information is an integral part of a progressive democratic state and the same has been elaborated by the superior courts saying the right to information in all matters of public importance is indisputably a fundamental right guaranteed under Article(s) 19 and 19-A of the Constitution.” He argued the people of Pakistan had the right to know every public act, everything that is done in a public way, by public functionaries and their chosen representatives.
Cap imposed on Tosha Khana gifts
The development comes a day after PM Shehbaz Sharif said that the cabinet members, bureaucrats and politicians will not be allowed to retain gifts worth more than around Rs 80,000 as he promised to make the entire record of Tosha Khana available to the public. Record of Tosha Khana will be brought in the public fora as the official website of the cabinet division will provide details about foreign gifts and will be accessible to all, he had said.
