Toshakana gifts: Why is the govt embarrassing itself, asks IHC

[FOOLS_NIGHTMARE]

• Court hears government petition challenging PIC orders to share details about gifts given to PM Imran Khan.
• Why is the government embarrassing itself by not revealing the gifts given [given] by other countries, asks IHC judge.
• Assistant attorney-general says this is an era of hybrid warfare and some people will make videos on it.

ISLAMABAD: Gifts given to rulers are not theirs, but gifts for the people. says the Islamabad High Court (IHC).

A single bench of the IHC, headed by Justice Mian Gul Hassan Aurangzeb, took up a petition filed by the Cabinet Division against the Pakistan Information Commission's (PIC) orders to make public the information related to gifts received by Prime Minister Imran Khan.

The issue of the Toshakhana gifts became a major controversy last month when the government approached the court against the PIC decision.

The federal government challenged the matter in the IHC, arguing that details of the gifts received by the prime minister have been designated as “classified”, adding that disclosures about the gift exchanges between heads of state could trigger unnecessary media hype, possibly damaging Pakistan’s relations with other countries.

During the hearing on Wednesday, the court asked why there is a restriction on making every gift public. If some country has given a necklace as a gift, what harm is there in making it public, the court asked.

“Why is the government embarrassing itself by not giving information about the gifts given by other countries?”

“Why does the government not keep all gifts in a museum. The government should make public all the gifts received from other countries during the last 10 years,” said Justice Miangul.

Assistant Attorney-General Attiqur Rehman Saddiqui requested the bench to grant more time so that he could take instructions from the federal government.

The assistant attorney-general adopted the stance that this was an era of hybrid warfare and some people would make videos on it.

The bench asked how access to information could be denied in this age.

The court, however, granted time to the assistant attorney-general to get instructions from the federal government.

Toshakana gifts: Why is the govt embarrassing itself, asks IHC

Court hears government petition challenging PIC orders to share details about gifts given to PM Imran Khan.Why is the government embarrassing itself by not revealing the gifts given by other countries, asks IHC judge.Assistant...

www.geo.tv

 

[IceCold]

Did IHC ask Nawaz-led government or the one before led by Zardari, the gifts they received?
It is not the government embarrassing itself but IHC who is intervening needlessly.

 

[FOOLS_NIGHTMARE]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1448585250725109766

 

[M. Sarmad]

Did IHC ask Nawaz-led government or the one before led by Zardari, the gifts they received?
It is not the government embarrassing itself but IHC who is intervening needlessly.

It was in 2009/2010 during PPP tenure that first such report was presented in the National Assembly and lists of gifts received by all Presidents/PMs since Ayub was disclosed. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto's name was mysteriously missing from the list though the list included details of the gifts received and retained by Benazir and Zardari.

The purpose apparently was to malign Musharraf and his team for the alleged irregularities, and the report was specifically focused on the ten year period, i.e. 1999-2009. As per the report, Shaukat Aziz tops the list who took 1,126 gifts with him on his last flight from Islamabad to London in 2008

When Nawaz Sharif became PM in 2013, the previous governments (including the Zardari govt) were criticized once again and much was revealed about expensive gifts taken home by Zardari.

However, it wasn't the instructions/orders of the courts but the then govts' own decision to make those lists public.

 

[Norwegian]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1448585250725109766