Fawad Chaudhry demands disclosure of Toshakhana gifts received by generals, judges

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) demanded on Monday that details of Toshakhana gifts received by military generals and judges should also be disclosed. The demand comes a day after the government made public the record of Toshakhana from 2002 to 2023.

As per the document uploaded on the Cabinet Division website, the names of former presidents, former prime ministers, ministers, and government officials are among the recipients of the foreign gifts.

Prominent of those whose details have been made public include the incumbent Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, President Dr Arif Alvi, former President Pervez Musharraf, former Prime Ministers Shaukat Aziz, Yousuf Raza Gilani, Raja Pervez Ashraf, Nawaz Sharif and Imran Khan.

Following this, PTI's Fawad Chaudhry said on Twitter that the list of Toshkhana gifts had revealed how the “Sharif and Zardari families looted the Toshakhana”.

In the video statement shared by PTI on Twitter, Fawad said that in the last 15 months, these people levelled a string of accusations against Imran and Bushra Bibi related to Toshakhana.

“But the reality is that if there was anyone who opted for a legal way to retain the Toshakhana gifts, it was Imran Khan," Fawad said.

"Zardari and Sharif families blatantly misused the law and retained gifts worth millions. They didn’t even leave a box of pineapples."

The former information minister said that the list was incomplete, adding that a list of gifts retained since before 1988 should also be released along with gifts retained by generals and judges.

The PTI leader called for an independent commission to probe the matter of the Toshakhana gifts.

Toshakhana gifts' record since 2002

Established in 1974, the Tosha­khana is a department under the administrative control of the Cabinet Division and stores precious gifts given to rulers, parliamentarians, bureaucrats, and officials by heads of other governments and states and foreign dignitaries.

According to the newly released document, the present government received 59 gifts in 2023. Last year, 224 gifts were received in the Toshakhana, while 116 were received in 2021.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif received dozens of things as gifts that he kept for free which included a cow model, a bowl, a dagger, chocolates, honey, herbal tea, jam and a jar, etc.

Here is the Toshakhana gifts' record since 2002

He also bought a decoration piece for Rs5000. He got a ceramic bowl worth Rs20,000, and a painting worth Rs12,000 for free. On July 15, 2009, Shehbaz Sharif as chief minister deposited all the gifts in Toshakhana.

According to the document, former Prime Minister Imran Khan received a diamond gold watch worth Rs 8.5 crore from Toshakhana, got a pair of cufflinks worth Rs 5.670 million, a pen worth Rs 1.5 million and a ring worth Rs 8.750 million.