Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The Cabinet Division has sold the precious golden sword and dagger, which was presented as a gift to a former head of state, at an extremely meager price.

The sword and dagger was made of pure gold on which diamonds and other precious stones were affixed. The minimum estimated price of diamonds alone was more than Rs 150 million. The sword was presented by the Saudi crown prince to former Pakistan governor general in 1956.

The Cabinet Division sold the sword along with diamonds for Rs 114 million whereas the gold dagger was sold for Rs two million only. The division had forwarded the report of the sale to Aiwan-e-Sadr in which it stated that these historical gifts were sold to the market, as they had become obsolete.

Sources told Daily Times that a group of senior officers in the Cabinet Division have set a precedent by selling priceless gifts so that such presents could be swallowed easily in the future as well.

In a recent case of the same nature, former prime minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani received an expensive necklace as a gift, which he gave away to his wife. The gift was taken back from him by the government and was deposited into Tosha Khana (official warehouse for gifts presented to head of states).

Although Gillani paid the substitute price of the necklace, but incumbent Interior Minister Chaudhary Nisar Ali Khan initiated action against him through the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and made sure that the necklace was returned to the Tosha Khana.

Sources said that constitution of a committee was necessary to probe the sale of sword and dagger, but the corrupt officers ignored the legal requirement.

When Daily Times contacted law expert Senator Zafar Ali Shah for seeking legal position of the case, he said that according to the law, gifts presented to head of states could not be sold out. “If anybody does this, it is sheer violation of the law,” he clarified.