Pakistan: IHC Asks Govt To Give Details Of Gifts Received By Imran
Islamabad, April 20: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday ordered the federal government to make public the details of all the gifts received by former prime minister Imran Khan during his official visits to foreign countries, Express Tribune reported.
While hearing the petition challenging the former Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government’s decision to keep the details of these gifts secret, the IHC ordered the federal government to submit its response within two weeks.
The IHC also directed the government to share the information regarding the gifts with the petitioner since there was no stay order regarding making the information about these gifts public.
The court remarked that there should not be a policy of buying these state gifts by paying a meagre sum. “Such a policy means that these gifts are on sale,”it added.
According to Justice Mian Gul Hassan Aurangzeb, gifts received by government officials from foreign governments belong to the state of Pakistan and not some individuals.
“These gifts are not meant for taking home,” he said, adding that these gifts should be recovered if someone had taken them home. “Individuals come and go but the office of the prime minister of Pakistan is permanent,” the IHC judge added.
Justice Aurangzeb said if there was a need for constitutional interpretation regarding these gifts then the high court was willing to help and said the government should formulate a policy that would be acceptable to everyone.
He further said that these gifts should be placed in museums or art councils, adding that information regarding the sent and received gifts should be shared.
He reiterated that the issue did not concern an individual but the PM’s office. Former Prime Minister Imran Khan had purchased at least four expensive gifts at one fifth – Rs21 million – of their government-assessed rates of Rs. 102 million before the federal cabinet revised the rules and increased the price tags in December 2018.
An expensive watch was among the four gifts that Imran Khan had decided to retain after paying their nominal price, a senior government official revealed on Friday, who said that the other three gifts include a pen, ring and cufflinks.
The assessed value of the watch was Rs. 85 million while the pen’s worth was estimated to be Rs. 15 million, the ring Rs. 9 million and the cufflinks Rs. 6 million.
