Pakistan Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif has accused ousted Prime Minister Imran Khan of selling valuable Toshakhana gifts, including diamond jewelery worth Rs 14 crore, to Dubai, causing damage to the national exchequer.
According to the law of the land, any gift received from dignitaries of a foreign state must be deposited in the state’s depository or toshakhana.
According to The News International’s report on Friday, Shahbaz made this claim during a meeting with senior journalists at the Prime Minister’s residence here.
“I can confirm that Imran Khan took gifts from Toshakhana and sold them in Dubai for Rs 14 crore (US$7.6 million). Valuable gifts include diamond jewellery, bracelets, watches and sets,” he said.
Shahbaz said that he had once even found a watch which he had deposited in Toshakhana.
The newly-elected prime minister said, “I don’t need to hide anything.”
The Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government was reluctant to share details about the gifts kept from Toshakhana.
An investigation has been launched against Khan by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for selling a precious necklace from Toshakhana, causing damage to the national exchequer.
The report said the necklace was sold to a jeweler in Lahore through Zulfi Bukhari, former special assistant to the prime minister for overseas Pakistanis and human resource development, for Rs 180 million, while only a fraction of that amount was given to Toshakhana. was gone, the report said.
Responding to the allegations, Bukhari said that there is no truth in the reports of the necklace being sold.
Talking to Geo News, he said that there was never any talk about the defeat and the allegations were baseless and baseless.
Meanwhile, former Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said that Khan had bought the watch from the government which was received as a gift from a foreign country.
“I don’t understand what is the real issue of Shahbaz,” he said, alleging that Shahbaz is confused as he does not understand how to level allegations against Khan.
Fawad said that whatever the price of the watch, “if it is mine, I can sell that watch, it should not bother anyone.”
The former minister and close aide of Khan advised Shahbaz to stay away from superficial gossip and focus on national issues.
Whenever the head of a state receives a gift from another state, it has to be deposited in the Toshakhana as per the law.
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