A writ petition was filed in Lahore High Court (LHC) on Saturday, seeking details of foreign gifts retained by dignitaries, bureaucrats and other officials, including all prime ministers and presidents from Toshakhana (gift depository).
The petitioner requested the court to direct the quarters concerned to make public all details of the gifts, including the method used to determine the market price of the gifts and how much money was deposited into the treasury.
Petitioner Munir Ahmed filed the application through senior advocate Azhar Siddique.
Advocate Siddique implored in the petition that Islamabad High Court (IHC) on April 20, 2022, directed the federal cabinet to disclose all information and specifications in relation to all the gifts received by Imran Khan during his tenure as the prime minister.
Following this order, the petitioner sought information about all the gifts bought/ withdrawn/ taken away by Pakistan’s prime ministers and presidents from 1947 till date. Additionally, the petitioner also legitimately sought information concerning the market value of the gift (prevalent at that time), the assessed value of the gift and the amount paid by the receivers (presidents and prime ministers) of the gifts from 1947 till date.
The counsel maintained that the petitioner believed that this exercise would ensure that the citizens have complete access to the entire record of Toshakhana, which will aid the process of fairness, accountability and transparency.
