Senators seek records of Toshakhana gifts from 1988 to 2023

ISLAMABAD: Senators have sought more details of the Toshakhana gifts from the Upper House’s Secretariat after the records were declassified by the Cabinet Division yesterday, ARY News reported on Monday.

The senators demanded the declassification of the records of Toshakhana gifts from 1988 till date. Senators Kauda Babar and Prince Ahmed Umer Ahmedzai submitted a questionnaire to the Senate Secretariat. The senators sought details of Toshakhana gifts from 1988 to 2023.

They also asked the concerned authorities to provide complete information about the gifts currently present in the Toshakhana besides disclosing the records of auctioned gifts and their buyers.

Yesterday, the federal government declassified the Toshakhana records and uploaded the 466-page data from 2002 to 2023 on the Cabinet Division’s website.

Those who acquired gifts from Toshakhana include former presidents, prime ministers, ministers and government officers.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) vice president Fawad Chaudhry has demanded to constitute a judicial commission probe into Toshakhana gifts.

Fawad Chaudhry said in a statement that PML-N Quaid Nawaz Sharif and PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari looted the Toshakhana gifts in accordance with the Toshakhana records. One more piece of evidence came forth against Sharif and Zardari for deceiving the nation, he added.

“Nawaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari illegally acquired vehicles from Toshakhana and committed legal violations. The publicised list is incomplete and the records of 1988 should also be made public.”

He thanked the Lahore High Court’s (LHC) chief justice for ordering to declassify the Toshakhana records. Chaudhry said that the LHC CJ gave a new path of transparency to the nation.

The PTI vice president demanded the LHC constitute a commission to probe against the rulers whether they bought the gifts at the assessed price in accordance with the law or not. He added that a probe should also be launched against rulers whether they declared the gifts in their asset declaration or not.