Tosha Khana توشہ خانہ

Tosha Khana means "Treasure house".

Introduction: -

A Tosha Khana was a repository for princes' "gifts and emblems of honor that they received for their posterity. an archive of artifacts whose origin and receipt symbolized his stature and honor" in Mughal-ruled India.

History: -

The government of Pakistan has a Tosha Khana for gifts from other states or heads of state. A government-owned division under the direction of Pakistan's Cabinet Division since 1974 is called Tosha Khana. Its primary function is to store gifts that lawmakers, ministers, foreign secretaries, the President, and the Prime Minister receive.

Rules and Regulations: -

Tosha Khana is one of the hot topics in Pakistan news and politics. This topic always remains in the headlines whenever a govt changes. The new govt files cases against the old about illegal ownership of gifts, received by foreign governments.

Tosha Khana rules and regulations changed in Prime Minister Imran khan's era (2018-2022). Tosha Khana had a rule that, When Presidents, Prime Ministers, and other public office holders go on official foreign trips, they may receive gifts, these are recorded by Foreign Ministry officials and posted at the embassy of the country, the official is visiting. Tosha Khana is one of the hot topics in Pakistan news and politics. This topic always remains in the headlines whenever a govt changes. The new govt files cases against the old about illegal ownership of gifts, received by foreign governments.

Tosha Khana rules and regulations changed in Prime Minister Imran khan's era (2018-2022). Tosha Khana had a rule that, When Presidents, Prime Ministers, and other public office holders go on official foreign trips, they may receive gifts, these are recorded by Foreign Ministry officials and posted at the embassy of the country, the official is visiting. The person who got the gift has the first right to take that gift. If the gift's price is less than 30,000, the president, the prime minister, or the minister who received that gift can take it without any charges. But if the price is more than 30,000, he must have to pay 15 percent of the original price to take that gift. In PM Imran Kahn's era, he changed the rules and according to the new rules, the minister must have to pay 50% of the original price.

"There is another Clause of the Tosha Khana Constitution, that no one can take cars, even after paying the full amount. "

Auction of gifts: -

According to officials, if the heads of state or ministers do not take these gifts, then lists of these gifts are prepared and presented to government employees and army officers for auction in accordance with Tosha laws. According to the officials of the Cabinet Division, the auction has to be held every year but because of the visits of the Heads of State and Ministers during the year, not enough gifts can be collected to hold the auction every year. Explaining the gifts received by the Heads of State and Ministers and the procedure for their registration in the treasury, the officials said that the Foreign Office officials register these gifts during any visit abroad and on their return, they will be rewarded. They are deposited in the box, after which their market value is regularly determined by the State Bank of Pakistan.

For the auction, the prices do not remain as same. FBR and SBP re-determine the prices according to the value of the gift. First, the gifts are presented to government officials and military officers, then the remaining gifts are presented to the public for auction. The money obtained as a result of the auction is collected in the state bank. There's another clause that says, the one who is buying the gift of Tosha Khana must have to declare his assets, and source of income. He must have to pay the tax for that gift if applicable.

Who got what?

Everyone prime minister, president, and govt official got gifts from Tosha Khana but didn't pay the required amount for them. Below is the list of the president's prime ministers' names and gifts they took from Tosha Khana. Transparency international publish a report about Pakistan Tosha Khana in 2013. It had a 30-year record of Tosha Khana.

List:

A total of 13 presidents and the prime ministers of Pakistan took 3039 gifts after paying 16 crores altogether from Tosha Khana.

Former prime minister Shoukat Aziz got 1126 gifts in his tenure and he took all the 1,126 gifts from Tosha Khana, that's most of all. The price of those gifts was 26 crores but he paid only 2.5 crores. During an international trip to Nepal, the Nepali governor gifted two scarves to Mrs. Shaukat Aziz. She bought these two scarves for just 50 PKR/- (per 25 Rs/-). British PM Tony Blare gave a gift to Shaukat Aziz, which she retained just in 2000 Rs/-. Prince Charles once visited Pakistan, and he brought a lady bag with him and gifted it to the first lady at that time, that is the wife of Shaukat Aziz (Rukhsana Aziz), and she retained that bag for just 300 Rs/-.

Shaukat Aziz

General Zia UL Haq the former army chief Martial law administrator and president of Pakistan got 210 gifts in his tenure as army chief and president as well. He took 122 gifts from Tosha Khana after paying just 1,600,000 PKR/-.
Zia UL Haq
Field Marshal Ayub Khan (martial law administrator) and Balak Sher Mazari is the only president and prime minister of Pakistan who never took a single gift with them while leaving their offices.

Ayob khan

Balak Sher Mazari

Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain remained Pakistan's prime minister for 40 days 30 June 2004 – 23 August 2004. In his tenure of 40 days, he got 9 gifts. He retained all those gifts.
Benazir Bhutto Got 630 gifts in his tenure. She retained 174 gifts just for 272,000 Rs/-.
Parvaiz Musharaff in his tenure got 520 gifts including knives, jewelry, and guns from foreign governments. He retained 515 gifts just for 38,100,000Rs/-. He got a gift of rupees 40,000,000, which he retained just for 5,500,000Rs/-. Once on a Saudi trip, the Saudi government presented a jewelry box to his wife Sehba Musharaf which includes a diamond jewelry set, a gold jewelry set, a necklace, and other things. She retained this box just for 7,000,000Rs/- which was only 10% of the actual price.

Nawaz Sharif in his tenure got 127 gifts of 1 crore (price at that time). He retained 75 gifts just for 1,400,000. Once in his tenure (1997), he got a carpet as a gift, which he retained just for 50Rs/-. The Crown prince of Qatar gifted him a briefcase, which he retained just for 875Rs/-. He retained the 4,500,000Rs/- Mercedes just for 600,000. A rifle worth more than 100,000, he retained for 14,000Rs/-.
Asif Ali Zardari also retained gifts when he was the President of Pakistan. He retained 3 vehicles including BMWs and one Lexus just for 9,300,000Rs/- when the actual price was around 62,000,000Rs/-. He paid 9,100,000Rs/- for three bulletproof cars gifted by Muammar Gaddafi. He retained Mercedes of 12,000,000Rs/- gifted from UAE just for 1,600,000Rs/-. He took 150,000,000Rs/- valued vehicles just for 20,000,000Rs/-.

Note: According to the law of Tosha Khana, no one can take vehicles from Tosha Khana at any cost.

Yusuf Raza Gillani in his tenure as prime minister of Pakistan retained gifts of actual value 2,000,000Rs/- just for 283,000Rs/-. His wife Fauzia Gillani retained a jewelry set of 3,000,000Rs/- just for 300,000Rs/-.
Maryam Safdar also got gifts from Tosha Khana. She retained a black 4800CC 2006 model BMW for just in 3,412,418Rs/-. She received a 1,000,000Rs/- watch from Tosha Khana for just in 45,000Rs/-.

Here are some more details of PDM gifts which they got on the trip of Saudi Arabia in 2022. It's not confirmed that they submitted all these gifts in Tosha Khana or not.

Abuzar khan Niazi (managing partner crown law chambers Islamabad) wrote a letter to the cabinet division to release the new report of Tosha Khana but they didn't respond. Then he again wrote a letter to Pakistan Information Commission for the same purpose, he said it is my right as a Pakistani to know who got what from Tosha Khana. Information Commission of Pakistan replied that yes, it is the right of every Pakistani to be aware of this, but unfortunately! the cabinet division refused to give any information saying that it is classified information that we cannot disclose.

Reports of Imran Khan's tosha Khana are not mentioned here because of no credibility reports. Soon we'll upload another article about that too.

My opinion:

Tosha Khana is the main issue in all eras. My opinion says that no one should be allowed to pay 20%, 30% or half of the actual price. If someone wants to take a gift from Tosha Khana, he/she must have to pay the actual price. Only one auction should be held. The custom of organizing one for prime minister or president, second for govt officials and military officers, and then third for public.

Only one auction with actual price.

And whenever someone get a gift it must be public with the actual price.

Tosha Khana توشہ خانہ