The Lahore High Court (LHC) has issued a detailed decision ordering the government to make a complete record of Toshakhana from 1990 to 2001 public, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

LHC Justice Asim Hafeez last week disposed of the petition filed by a citizen Munir Ahmad seeking details of the Toshakhana record. 

The court issued an 11-page judgment ordering the government to make the Toshakhana record public within seven days of the certified copy of the court order. 

“The government should also make public the names of those friendly countries who gave these gifts from 1990 to 23 March 2023 to Pakistan within seven days, the judgment added. 

The court observed that the gifts are owned by the state and these are held by the state department until a procedure is adopted to take them. 

The court decided that hiding gifts or not paying their price is a mistake that attracts evil. “Those who receive gifts are expected to declare them voluntarily.”

The judgment said that criminal action may be taken against those who do not do so. “No one is above the law and no one is allowed to harm the state for their own benefit,” the court held.   

Justice Hafeez observed that without making payment, no one could retain a Toshakhana gift for free.

The judgment clarified that the identity of the donor is not a state secret or classified information. “Asking for exemption is nothing but colonial mentality.” Justice Asim Hafeez hinted in the decision that just sharing Toshakhana’s information with the public will not damage its international relations.