Pakistan

Cabinet Division releases Toshakhana gifts record of last 21 years

Former presidents, premiers top list; President Alvi and First Lady 'returns' gifts, Data prior to 2002 was not issued; 'Watch' most bought item among all gifts

Usman Khan | Zahid Gishkori | Samaa Web Desk Mar 13, 2023

The federal government on Sunday released 21-year record of Toshakhana gits on the official website of Cabinet division.

The record was uploaded on the instructions of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

The decision was made in the federal cabinet to publish the ‘secretive’ record of gifts received by public office holders from foreign governments and dignitaries.

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif already made a public statement that the record will soon be put up on the Cabinet Division’s website.

Year	No of gifts received in Toshakhana
2002	257
2003	290
2004	350
2005	475
2006	381
2007	381
2008	115
2009	146
2010	145
2011	293
2012	139
2013	65
2014	91
2015	177
2016	149
2017	114
2018	175
2019	203
2020	81
2021	116
2022	224
2023	59

Former presidents, premiers top list

The names of former presidents, former prime ministers, federal ministers and government officials are among those who received gifts from Toshakhana.

According to the records released on the official website, the names of former President Pervez Musharraf, former Prime Ministers Shaukat Aziz, Yousuf Raza Gilani, Nawaz Sharif, Raja Pervez Ashraf and Imran Khan and others are included.

It is pertinent to note that Toshakhana gifts record of the Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif and President Arif Alvi are also uploaded.

According to the documents, the records of the gifts received by the federal ministers, senior officials and civil servants have also been made public.

Most of the low-value gifts were kept by the recipients without payment according to the law, as in 2022, up to Rs10,000, there was a law to keep gifts of low value without payment.

In addition, gifts of between Rs10,000 to Rs400,000 were allowed to be kept with the payment of 15 percent , while gifts worth over Rs0.4 million were allowed only for the president or government heads.

Gifts taken by former military ruler Pervez Musharraf

According to the Cabinet Division data, the value of the gifts given to general (retired) Pervez Musharraf in 2004 were over Rs6.5 million. The value of the watch given to Pervez Musharraf in 2005 was worth Rs0.5 million.

Former President Pervez Musharraf received dozens of valuable watches and jewelery boxes at different times which he had kept after paying money, according to the law.

Shaukat Aziz keeps hundreds of gifts

According to the official website, former prime minister Shaukat Aziz got a watch worth Rs850,000 which was auctioned for Rs355,000. Aziz also kept hundreds of gifts worth less than Rs10,000 without payment.

According to the records, the former Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali installed the model of Kaaba as a gift in the Prime Minister House, while a jewelry box given to the wife of General (R) Pervez Musharraf in 2003 was valued at Rs2,634,387.

Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi received a Rolex watch worth Rs25 million rupees as a gift, while in April 2018, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi’s son Abdullah Abbasi received a watch worth Rs55 million.

Similarly, another son of Shahid Khaqan, Nader Abbasi, received a watch worth Rs10.70 million as a gift, which he kept with himself after depositing Rs3.395 million.

According to the Cabinet Division website, in 2018, Prime Minister’s Secretary Fawad Hasan Fawad received a watch worth Rs1.9 million.

In addition, in 2018, Brigadier Waseem, the military secretary of the prime minister, received a watch worth Rs2 million, which he gave to Toshakhana and he deposited Rs0.374 million and kept the gift.

Imran Khan list of Toshakhana gifts

Former prime minister and PTI chairman Imran Khan received valuable gifts in the year 2018.

In September 2018, Imran Khan received valuable gifts worth Rs10.9 million, including a watch worth Rs8.55 million, made of 18-Karat gold.

PTI supremo had deposited Rs20.78 million of these gifts and kept the gifts in Toshakhana.

In September 2018, former prime minister’s chief security officer Rana Shoaib was gifted a Rolex watch Rs2.9 million.

On September 27, 2018, former minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi received gifts worth Rs7.3 million which he kept in the Toshakhana.

President Alvi, First Lady returns gifts

According to Toshakhana records, President Arif Alvi received a watch, Holy Quran and other gifts worth Rs10.7 million in December 2018.

President Alvi kept the Holy Quran and deposited other gifts in Tosha Khana.

Similarly, in December 2018, First Lady Begum Samina Alvi also received a necklace worth Rs0.8 million and a bracelet worth Rs5.1 million, which she deposited in Toshakhana.