Take action if illegality suspected in retaining Toshakhana gifts: Shahid Khaqan Abbasi

Former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi says if he received Toshakhana gifts wrongly, action must be taken against him.

His statement comes after a report published in The News revealed that Abbasi — while being prime minister for less than a year — made a fortune by keeping Toshakhana gifts which valued over Rs233 million.

He made a whooping profit of almost Rs187 million by retaining gifts having value of Rs233 million in just Rs46.5 million, the news report stated.

Speaking to the media in Islamabad on Tuesday, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader shared that his name has also appeared in the Toshakhana. "If any gift is received from abroad, it is deposited to the Toshakhana," he shared.

Toshakhana gifts, presents from foreign notables and dignitaries given to senior state and government officials and deposited in a 'treasure-house' -- are usually considered the state’s possession. However, as per the government policy, these gifts are only available to political and bureaucratic elite, both civilian and military, and judges of the superior judiciary.

The record further shows that other members of the current cabinet including Ishaq Dar, Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Ahsan Iqbal, Syed Naveed Qamar, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao have also retained expensive gifts by paying minimal or no costs at all.

The record reflects that Abbasi (prime minister in 2017) kept over 50 gifts for himself, his spouse and three sons in less than a year which had a value of over Rs233 million in total. 

The expensive gifts were retained paying 20 or even less percent of their assessed value while gifts which were in thousands were mostly taken for free. Abbasi, when he became prime minister in 2017, got more than six special edition watch sets which had value close to Rs90 million. 

Apart from these, the spouse of the then prime minister kept a Rs100 million valued jewellery set consisting of one necklace, a pair of ear tops, a bracelet, and a ring. 

Similarly, his sons kept luxury watch sets of Hublot, Harry Winston and Rolex having value of millions of rupees. Mobile phones were also taken by his sons. These gifts were retained by the then prime minister by paying 20 percent of their assessed value. 

It is important to mention here that only two of these gifts were given to Shahid Abbasi while he was minister for petroleum and natural resources from 2013 to 2017.

During his media talk today, Abbasi said that the Toshakhana determines the price of a gift and payment has to be made to keep a gift.

He said that people have been running around accountability courts for years, but decisions are not being made. "The new chairman should finish the cases against the poor," the former premier commented.

The former prime minister also said that there was no attempt to form a new political party. "Pakistan is self-sufficient in political parties," he said.

Meanwhile, speaking on Geo News programme 'Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Saath', Abbasi explained the legal requirement for retaining a gift. He said he paid more tax on the gifts retained from Toshakhana than the price he paid. He said the government can probe if any illegality is suspected in retaining the gifts.

Commenting on a taunting tweet by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s son, Suleman Sharif, Abbasi said he didn’t mind it. He said he is with the party, not any individual (Suleman).

He said Imran Khan sold out the gifted watch first and then paid Toshakhana, which is wrong, adding most gifts were not deposited in Toshakhana in PTI chief’s tenure.