The new Prime Minister of Pakistan, Shehbaz Sharif, has accused former prime minister Imran Khan of selling valuable Toshakhana gifts including luxurious jewellery worth Rs 140 million in Dubai, which has inflicted a loss on the national exchequer.
According to the country’s law, any gift received from noteworthy individuals of any foreign state must be kept in the Toshakhana or the state depository.
As per the sources, Shehbaz claimed while in a meeting with senior reporters at the house of the Prime Minister on Friday, 15 April.
He said I could confirm that Imran Khan took gifts from Toshakhana and sold them for Rs 140 million (USD 7.6 lakh) in Dubai. These valuable gifts included diamond jewellery, watches, bracelets and sets.
Shehbaz also said that he also got a watch once that he deposited in the Toshakhana.
The newly-elected PM said, “I don’t need to hide anything.” The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government led by Imran Khan had been hesitant to share any details about gifts possessed by Toshakhana.
An inquiry has also been initiated against Former PM Khan by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for selling a luxurious necklace from Toshakhana, imposing a loss on the national exchequer.
The necklace was sold to a jeweller in Lahore for Rs 180 million by Zulfi Bukhari, who is the former Special Assistant to Prime Minister for Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development. Only a little of this amount was paid to Toshakhana.
In response to these allegations, Bukhari said that there is no truth in these statements regarding selling a necklace.
He said that there have never been any talk about the necklace, and the allegations were baseless.
On the other hand, former information minister Fawad Chaudhry said that Khan bought the watch from the government, which was a gift from a foreign country.
“I don’t understand the actual issue of Shehbaz, he said, alleging that Shehbaz is mistaken as he is not able to understand how to level allegations against Khan.”
Fawad said that no matter the watch’s price,” if it is mine, I can sell that watch nobody should have a problem with it.”