The Toshakhana (Management and Regulation) Act 2024

Introduction and Background

The Toshakhana (Management and Regulation) Act, 2024 was create to clear the system of handling the gifts received by government officials. Before this act there was no statutory authority to regulate this system. There were only some set of rules that often cause confusion. This law is made to ensure that the gifts are treated as state property and managed in a way that is open and fair to the public.

This is important because for a long time, people in power could decide their own rules about what to keep. The new act makes sure that there is a proper law passed by the parliament so that no one can say the rules are not clear. By making this into a formal act, it becomes a permanent part of our legal system that everyone must follow

Main Provisions

Section 2 of the act provides the definition for who is covered under this law. It uses a term called “Public office holder”, this doesn’t just mean the president or the prime minister, it includes their spouses, children, members of parliament, judges, and members of the armed forces and even private individual who are part of an official government delegation. By including family members, the law ensures that gifts cannot be hidden by giving them to a relative instead of the official. This is a very good move because it stops people from using their family to bypass the law. It means that if a wife or a child gets a gift, the official is still responsible for making sure it goes to the state.

Section 3 is the most important part of the act. It states that any gift received by a public office holder must be deposited in the toshakhana within 30 days. This creates a strict deadline, making it a legal requirement to hand over any gift received from foreign or local dignitary so it can be officially recorded and stored. However the act states “or within such time limit” means that if the gift received in abroad the 30 day countdown usually starts the moment when the official lands back in Pakistan. This ensures that no one can make an excuse that they were busy or travelling. The 30-day limit is very clear so there is no confusion about when the gift should be handed over.

Section 4 focuses on the management of these gifts. It gives the responsibility of looking after the toshakhana to a specific division of the government. A very important part of this section is that it makes toshakhana records open to inspection. This means the public or relevant authorities have the right to see information about the gifts which helps prevent secrets or corruption. This is a big change because it allows everyone to see what gifts are coming in and where they are going. It makes the whole process very transparent and stops the government from hiding these treasures from the citizens.

Penalties and Disposal of Gifts

Section 5 outlines what is going to happen if somebody broke this law. According to this section if a person fails to hand over a gift or tries to hide it, they can be punished with a fine equal to five times the market value of that gift. If the person is a government servant, they don’t just pay a fine, they also face internal departmental proceedings, which could affect their job and career. This double penalty is very harsh so that officials think twice before hiding a gift. It shows that the law is very serious about protecting state property from being stolen or hidden away.

Section 7 explains what happens to the gifts after they are collected. The law requires that existing and future gifts be sold through an open auction. Instead of the money just going into a general fund, the Act specifically says the money from these auctions must be kept in a separate account. This money is then used for a specific good cause: promoting female primary education in the most backward areas of Pakistan. This ensures that the gifts given to the state eventually benefit the children who need help the most. By doing this, the luxury items of the rich are turned into books and schools for girls who really need them.

Case Laws

The Toshakhana-II Case (State v. Imran Khan & Bushra Bibi, 2025): This case is very famous because a former Prime Minister and his wife were sentenced to 17 years in prison on December 20, 2025. The court found that they had kept a Bulgaria jewellery set at a very low price without following the proper valuation rules. This case shows how Section 2 and Section 5 are now being used to hold both the official and their family accountable.

The Toshakhana Vehicles Case (Zardari & Nawaz Sharif): In this case, leaders like Asif Ali Zardari and Nawaz Sharif were accused of taking luxury cars from the state repository by paying only 15% of their value. This was a big scandal because the old rules allowed them to buy back expensive cars at cheap rates. This case is why Section 7 now insists on open auctions so that no one can get luxury cars at a discount.

Comparison with the previous Rules

Before this act, the system of management of gifts was governed by the rules made by the government rather than a law making body. This mean that those rules were easier to change and not and were not as strict. Because they were just administrative rules, the government could ignore them whenever they wanted to favour a powerful person.

Two major changes occurs in this law one on who this law is going to applicable. In the past, the rules were sometimes unclear about whether family members had to report gifts. The 2024 Act makes it very clear that the law applies to the official, their spouse, and their children. This stops people from keeping a gift by saying it was given to their family member instead of them. It makes the law much more effective because it covers every person related to the official.

Second one is the retention of gifts. Under the old rules, officials were often allowed to keep gifts if they paid a certain percentage of the value (like 20% or 50%). The new Act focuses on open auctions for the public. This ensures that the most valuable items stay with the state or are sold fairly to the highest bidder, rather than being kept by the person who received them. This is much fairer because it gives everyone a chance to participate in the auction rather than just the officials.

The penalties have also become much tougher. Previously, if someone didn’t report a gift, the consequences were not always clear or strictly enforced. Now, the law sets a very high fine, five times the value of the gift. This force officials to be more honest. A high fine like this acts as a strong warning that being dishonest will lead to a huge financial loss for the official.

The use of money has changed. Before, any money made from selling gifts just went into the general government budget. Now, the law says the money must be used for female primary education. This is a new and specific rule that makes sure the gifts serve a social purpose for the country. It gives the people of Pakistan a real benefit from the gifts received by their leaders.

Effect

The practical effect of the Toshakhana Act 2024 is that it removes the personal ownership of gifts from powerful officials and gives that ownership back to the state. By setting a 30-day limit and a very high fine (5x the value), it acts as a strong deterrent against keeping state property. Most importantly, it links the luxury of international gifts to the basic need for education, turning expensive items into schools and books for young girls in underdeveloped areas. This law ensures that state property is used for the public good and that every gift is accounted for in a transparent way.