Govt challenges LHC decision to public Toshakhana record from 1990 to 2001
Pakistan
Petition says single-bench's order to reveal sources of gifts unlawful
LAHORE (Dunya News) – The federal government on Monday filed a petition against a ruling of the Lahore High Court’s single bench regarding declassification of Toshakhana record from 1990 to 2001.
The petition has been filed through the Cabinet Division secretary and it will be heard by a two-member bench, headed by LHC’s Justice Shahid Bilal Hassan today.
It argued that the single bench’s decision to reveal the sources of the gifts was unlawful and pleaded the LHC to declar it null and void.
Single Bench’s Order
On March 22, LHC’s Justice Asim Hafeez had ordered the release of the Toshakhana record from 1990 to 2001. He had issued the order while a hearing petition filed by lawyer Munir Ahmad through Advocate Azhar Siddique, seeking the government to release the complete details of Toshakhana gifts received by political rulers and bureaucrats from foreign dignitaries since the creation of Pakistan.
Established in 1974, the Toshakhana is a department under the administrative control of the Cabinet Division and stores gifts received by public officeholders from other governments and foreign dignitaries.
The department has been in the news in recent months in light of proceedings against former prime minister Imran Khan for “not sharing details” of Toshakhana gifts. The Election Commission Pakistan (ECP) had disqualified the PTI chief in the case last year.
Justice Hafeez had ordered that details about the source of gifts should also be revealed, adding that nothing could be concealed. Raising objection to the court order to disclose the details of sources, the federal government’s lawyer had said an appeal would be filed against it.
Read more: Top leaders make the most of Toshakhana largesse as records declassified since 2002
The orders from the high court had come days after the federal government 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 included 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. Earlier, the federal cabinet had decided to make the details of records of Toshakhana public.
