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The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday directed the federal government to make public the complete record of gifts received by the Toshakhana from 1990 to 2001, including the names of the countries where the gifts had originated.
Hearing the case, Justice Asim Hafeez said “nothing should be hidden” from the public and all details should be provided for public consumption. The federal government’s lawyer, however, argued that the verdict would be challenged, as authorities did not agree to sharing the source of gifts. To this, Justice Asim Hafeez said it is a legal right to file a challenge. “No one can retain the gift without making payment,” the order added.
The LHC order was issued on a petition filed by citizen Munir Hafeez, who had sought complete details of gifts received by political rulers and bureaucrats from foreign dignitaries since the creation of Pakistan. Earlier this month, the federal government made public the Toshakhana record from 2002-to date, showing that every political leader of the country in the past 20 years had availed gifts from the Toshakhana, with several—but not all—failing to pay the due amount to the treasury to retain the objects.
In releasing the data, government officials had said they did not have a complete record of previous years but the Cabinet Division was working to compile it for eventual release. However, they had maintained that releasing the names of the countries that provided the gifts risked harming Pakistan’s foreign relations and this should be avoided.
The incumbent government has also revised the Toshakhana policy, making it incumbent on all politicians, parliamentarians, judges, generals and bureaucrats to declare and deposit any foreign gifts to the Toshkhana within 30 days of their receipt. Failure to declare and deposit these gifts would trigger punitive action against any violator.
Under the new policy, no official would be allowed to retain any gift—barring perishable items which can be retained without reporting or deposit—valued over $300. Gifts valued under $300 can be retained upon payment of their full assessed market value. However, even this exemption would not apply on gifts of intrinsic historical value, which would be properly catalogued and displayed at prominent buildings by the government.