On Wednesday, the Public Accounting Committee (PAC) required a complete overview of Toshakhana dating back to 1947, where he revealed irregular changes and opaque auction processes.

Officials revealed that the Toshakhana rules were changed without cabinet approval between 2001 and 2018, while items before 2002 remain classified.

Legislators also raised concern about the lack of public auctions for state gifts, where the government was considering a complete ban on public office holders preserving gifts.

During the meeting, led by Junaid Akbar, the committee reviewed Cabinet Division’s audit report for 2023-24 and ordered the submission of Toshakhana records dating back to 1947.

However, the Cabinet Secretary said that items before 2002 were classified. He added that during the new Toshakhana Act 2024 revised, including serious consideration of banning public office holders from accepting gifts during foreign visits.

PAC also required details of all auctioned Toshakhana gifts within 15 days.

The Cabinet Secretary stated that Toshakhana items from 2002 to 2024 were available online.

However, the PAC chairman instructed that hard copies should be delivered to committee members and all archived items are uploaded to the site.

PAC members noted that Toshakhana policy previously allowed public office holders to maintain gifts by paying 30% of their value. According to the new law, however, they must pay 100%.

The committee was also informed that Toshakhana gifts had never been auctioned in public.

However, the Cabinet Secretary quoted the lack of assessment of the private sector as the reason despite several advertisements for the role.

The panel then exposed all audit objections related to Toshakhana.

The committee also reviewed a revision observation on non-distribution of almost RS2 billion for PSL 8 among PCBs and franchises. Auditing officials informed that the funds remained undelivered due to problems between PCBs and franchises.

The PCB chairman expressed dissatisfaction with the absence of PCB -President Mohsin Naqvi, “Should the PCB chairman not be present at today’s meeting?”

The cabinet secretary explained that Naqvi could not participate due to security concerns in Quetta and Balochistan.

However, another official informed PAC that the Minister of the Interior was actually present in the country.

PAC members, including Syed Naveed Qamar and Senator Fawzia Arshad, insisted that the PCB chairman was called, with Qamar saying, “If anyone refuses to show up, you can issue messages and even arrest under civilian judge Power”.

The President replied humorously, “Do you want me to spend the rest of my life in prison?”

PAC also questioned the expenses of the 2025 Champions Trophy, where he stated that while RS29 billion was used, the revenue was only RS1 billion Rs.

Nepra Audit

PAC also questioned NEPRA to allegedly undermine parliamentary supervision by challenging a performance audit in High Court.