An Islamabad trial court on Saturday, August 5, convicted Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief and former Pakistan PM Imran Khan in the Toshakhana case. The Toshakhana reference case has been at the centre of controversy after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) ordered the expulsion of Imran Khan as a member of Pakistan's National Assembly and ordered a criminal proceeding against the former Prime Minister.
So what is the Toshakhana, and what is the case that has put the once beloved cricketer-turned-politician in trouble?
What Is Toshakhana?
Established in 1974, the Toshakhana department stores gifts and other expensive items received by public officials. According to its rules, it is compulsory for officials to report the gifts and other such materials received by them to the Cabinet Division. Only the president and the prime minister are exempt and can keep gifts that cost less than Pakistani Rupee (PKR) 30,000. The two premiers of Pakistan can also retain the expensive gifts from Toshakhana by paying a certain percentage of their value assessed by the government.
Why Were Toshakhana Details Sought?
The controversy arose when Imran Khan, who came to power in 2018, resisted disclosing details of the many presents he received during his time in office on demand from a journalist under Pakistan's Right To Information (RTI) law. The request was declined by the PTI-controlled central government citing concerns that doing so would severely impact relations with other countries.
The journalist lodged a complaint with the Federal Information Commission after the Cabinet Division refused to disclose the Toshakhana details of Imran Khan. The commission instructed the Cabinet Division to furnish it as per the RTI. However, the Imran Khan-led government failed to comply with the directive, prompting the requesting party to approach the high court to enforce the Federal Information Commission's decision.
On April 2022, IHC ordered the government to furnish the information, but before it could process, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) took over power from the Imran Khan administration.
Toshakhana Reference Case
Amid a political change of guard in Pakistan, details of Imran Khan's Toshakhana action were leaked to the media, Pakistan daily Dawn reported.
On August 4, Members of the National Assembly (MNA) from the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), part of the new ruling alliance of the PML-N government in Pakistan, filed a reference with the Speaker of the National Assembly, seeking ousted PM's disqualification as a member of the assembly as well.
The reference alleged that the prime minister failed to declare the money earned from the sale of the gifts in his statement of assets and liabilities, which all legislators are required to submit annually to the ECP.
In a disclosure letter to the ECP, the former prime minister admitted to selling four presents from Toshakhana but also said that he bought them from the government by paying a percentage of their value.
According to a Dawn report, in a letter to ECP Khan admitted that he sold the gifts at a premium and used the proceeds to construct an approach road to his Banigala residence.
On October 21, 2022, Imran Khan was disqualified from the National Assembly for five years by the ECP after he was found guilty of concealing facts about selling expensive gifts.
A four-member bench, headed by Pakistan's Chief Election Commissioner Sikander Sultan Raja, announced the verdict at the ECP Secretariat in Islamabad, and according to the verdict criminal proceedings were to be initiated against Imran Khan for misdeclaration, reported Dawn.
Imran Khan's Toshakhana Details Made Public By ECP
Despite increasing the retention amount from 20% to 50% of the assessed value under his regime, Imran Khan retained some of the most expensive gifts at a rate of 20%. As a result, the average retention amount paid by him on all gifts over a period of about three years worked out to be just 27%, Dawn quoting ECP reported.
As per ECP estimates, Khan made a profit of PKR 104.78 million on the gifts he retained and sold, quoted Dawn. ECP also stated that Imran Khan did the transactions of gifts from Toshakhana following the procedure for acceptance and disposal of gifts. However, the expulsion by ECP was necessitated based on the reference from lawmakers as the PTI chief had "intentionally and deliberately" broken the laws.