Daily Times

The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday directed the government to submit the records of Toshakhana from 1947 to 2001 in a week. The directive came during the hearing of government’s intra-court appeal challenging the LHC’s single bench order to release the state gift depository’s records from 1990 to 2001. Taking up the plea, a two-member bench, comprising Justice Shahid Bilal Hassan and Justice Raza Qureshi asked the AAG about the grounds for the government’s plea. At this, the lawyer informed the court that the bench had ordered to make the names of individuals who gave the gifts public. “The government itself released the Toshakhana records from 2002 and onwards,” he said. He, however, said that the names of those who gave the gifts weren’t made public to avoid destroying foreign relations. The AAG further stated that the government had uploaded all the details on the official website but wanted relief to the extent of revealing the names. At this, Justice Qureshi asked whether those people were declaring what they had been gifted or not. “We are also bound to declare it if anyone gives us a gift,” Justice Bilal remarked. At this, the AAG maintained that if anyone is representing a state then he is supposed to declare the gift. He said that the government wasn’t trying to hide the records but the records before 2002 are not computerised and verified.