In 2014, when former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh left the office, he took 101 gift items given to him by various heads of the states during his foreign visits. The information came to light after a lawyer from Bareilly, Mohammad Khalid Jilani, filed an RTI with the Prime Minister’s Office and sought information about the same.
What had Jilani asked in the RTI application?
In his application [PDF], he sought information about the gifts then-PM Singh received during his long tenure of ten years. He further asked how many gifts he took away with him while leaving the office. The RTI was forwarded to the Ministry of external affairs as it keeps the record of the information about the gifts received by the PM by foreign delegates and heads of states.
In its reply, the MEA said that though the information of the gifts was included in the reply, the name of the countries or the source of the gifts could not be disclosed as per Central Information Commission’s order.
Items that caught the eye
It is noteworthy that multiple RTIs were filed related to the gifts received during the tenure and taken by then-PM Manmohan Singh at the time of leaving the office. In reply [PDF] to RTI filed by one Siddharth Sharma of Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, then-PM Singh from 2004 to 2014 received a total of 383 gifts from heads of the states. According to the reply to RTI filed by Mohammad Khalid Jilani, a total of 101 items were retained by then-PM Singh at the time of leaving the office. Out of these items, the following caught attention.
- Bose wave music system worth Rs 20,000
- Gold made Piaget ladies wristwatch worth Rs 35,000
- One carpet worth 30,000
Other than these three items, 88 items were less than Rs 5,000, and four were above Rs 5000. The remaining items had no commercial value, the RTI reply said. These gift items included gem-studded silver crockery, carpets, metal bowls, jewellery box, paintings, showpieces, tea sets, and more.
Is PM allowed to retain gifts?
As a matter of fact, the Prime Minister is allowed to retain gifts received from the heads of states under Foreign Contribution (Acceptance or Retention of Gifts or Presentations) Regulations, 1978 [PDF] and Foreign Contribution (Acceptance or Retention of Gifts or Presentations) Rules, 2012 [PDF]. Initially, when a gift is received by any PM, it has to be submitted at Toshakhana, where its value is assessed. While leaving the office, if PM wants, he or she can retain certain gifts as allowed by the law.
Why country of origin of the gift and the name of the donor not disclosed?
In December 2009, while replying to an RTI filed by a journalist Ramesh Varma, the Ministry of External Affairs refused to give information about the gifts received by the Prime Minister during his or her tenure. Varma filed an appeal at the Central Information Commission (CIC). The commission, in its order dated December 21, 2009, said that while the information about the gifts received like item details and price could not be considered as confidential, the information about the donor and country of origin could lead to uncalled for media attention and public scrutiny.
It said, “It is the considered opinion of the Commission that the information about the cost and description of the gifts may be disclosed by the Respondent while severing the information about the name/s of the donor of the gift viz. the name/s of the countries which had presented the gift/s, invoking the provisions of Section 10(1) of the RTI Act 2005.”
Thus, if someone seeks information about the gifts received by a government official, or a minister, including Prime Minister, the MEA only provides the list of items along with the tentative price. The name of the donor and the country of origin are not disclosed as per CIC order CIC/AD/C/2009/000802.
