Gifts to Prime Minister, President Has a Disgraceful Precedent
Former president Asif Ali Zardari and ex-premier Yousaf Raza Gilani were indicted by the anti-graft watchdog in Toshakhana reference in September 2020 for illegally retaining gifts
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is under immense pressure to disclose details of gifts given to Prime Minister Imran Khan by foreign heads of states and the past precedent of what had happened with those presents is disgraceful.
The government maintains that disclosing such details will damage national interest and relations with other countries.
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A citizen named Abrar Khalid had approached Islamabad High Court (IHC) to seek details of the gifts Prime Minister Imran Khan has so far received.
During the hearing, Assistant Attorney General (AAG) Atiq-ur-Rehman Siddiqui said the revelation of such information can damage Pakistan’s relations with other states.
The gifts received by a person holding a constitutional position remain in the gift depository (Toshakhana) as the property of the state.
The state has the right to sell those gifts at an open auction while rules also allow the recipients to retain those having a market value of less than Rs 10,000.
If the PTI-led government publishes details of the gifts, it will be the first time in the country’s history however the precedent set by ex-Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and ex-president Asif Ali Zardari is disgraceful.
The former prime minister had illegally taken the necklace with him, gifted by the wife of Turkish prime minister in 2010, when he was shown the door by the Supreme Court (SC) in 2012. He later returned it in 2015 after warning of the registration of a case.
Asif Ali Zardari was accused of retaining luxury vehicles gifted to him by foreign dignitaries.
Both leaders of PPP were indicted by National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in Toshakhana reference in September 2020.
