Toshakhana record could not be verified, claims officer

Quarters concerned given till March 21 to furnish record in order to examine it in open court

LAHORE:

The section officer of the Toshakhana department “failed to establish authenticity of the record of state gifts” as the record was only dating from the years 1990 to 2001 and was only partially complete, stored in computers without hard copies.

This was stated in a two-page order issued by the Lahore High Court’s Justice Asim Hafeez who was hearing a plea seeking details of dignitaries, bureaucracy and officials who had obtained gifts from Toshakhana since 1947.

However, the judge gave the concerned quarters till March 21 to furnish the said record in order to examine it in open court.

The order stated that the additional attorney general appearing before the court told the court that the complete record of Toshakhana from the year 2002 to today has been released.

However, the counsel for the petitioner advocate Azhar Siddique argued that the record released by the department is incomplete and disclosure was limited.

Petition

The petition was filed by Munir Ahmed through senior advocate Azhar Siddique. The counsel Azhar Siddique implored in the petition that the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on April 20, 2022, directed the cabinet to disclose all information and specifications in relation to all the gifts received by Imran Khan during his tenure as prime minister.

Following this order, the petitioner sought information about all the gifts bought/ withdrawn/ taken away by the prime ministers and presidents from 1947 till date.

Additionally, the petitioner also legitimately seeks information with respect to the market value of the gift (prevalent at that time), the assessed value of the gift and the amount paid by the receivers (premiers and presidents) of the gifts from 1947 till date.

He submitted that the petitioner believes that this exercise will ensure that the citizens have complete access to the entire record of Toshakhana which will aid the process of fairness, accountability and transparency.

It is settled law that Article 19 (A) of the Constitution has empowered the citizens of Pakistan by making access to information a justifiable right of the people rather than being largesse bestowed by the state at its whim.

Article 19(A) of the Constitution has, thus, enabled every citizen to become independent power centres which, heretofore, have been in control of information on matters of public importance.

All information that can be of any public importance must be made available to the general public.

It is imperative for the sake of justice and the principle of fairness that information and detail of all the gifts that have been received by former presidents and prime ministers are unveiled as this is a matter of great public importance.

The citizens of this country possess an inherent fundamental right to be privy to the entire record of Toshakhana as this will prevent anyone from misusing the privileges granted by Toshakhana, and safeguard the natural interests of the State by ensuring accountability in case of any mischief.

He implored that details of Toshakhana Gifts received under the premiership of Imran Khan have so far been disclosed by the Cabinet Division but to the extent, former prime ministers Nawaz Sharif, Yousaf Raza Gillani and Asif Ali Zardari (Ex-president) have never ever been disclosed by the Cabinet Division which is purely an act of malafide.

Advocate Azhar Siddique implored in the petition that the petitioner has issued a letter to the president, prime minister, secretary cabinet division, ministry of parliamentary affairs, interior division and the chairman PIC for the provision of information as well as compliance with the judgment of the court but all in vain.