Give details about foreign gifts received by PM, VIPs: CIC

New Delhi, Jan 22 (PTI) The Indian Government should disclose details related to gifts received from foreign countries by the President, Prime Minister and Judges and Chiefs of armed forces, the Central Information Commission has said.

Hearing the plea of an RTI activist Subhash Chandra
Agrawal, Information Commissioner Annapurna Dixit directed the
Ministry of External Affairs "to provide information against
all categories of political rulers...and in the event that
information is not available with regard to certain political
rulers, to inform the Appellant in no uncertain terms that it
is not available."

Agrawal in his Right to Information (RTI) application
had sought information whether the VIPs, including Lok Sabha
Speaker, governors and ministers, received the gifts in their
official capacity or personal capacity.

He also sought to know whether the gifts were kept in the
personal custody of the recipients or were deposited with the
government.

Initially, the MEA refused to provide information
claiming that it was not readily available with the concerned
authority.

"Also collection and compilation of the information
desired needs fresh efforts to create the same, a process
which will disproportionately divert the resources of the
public authority," the Ministry replied.

The ministry in its reply had said that existing
"Toshakhana" rules framed in 1965 allowed VIPs to keep the
gifts upto value of Rs 5,000 with them.

According to the rules, if the gifts cost more than Rs
5,000 in the country where the gifts were given the recipients
could deposit the difference of cost and keep the gift with
them.

It also said that in case of more than one gift from
single source, only one of them could be kept by a dignitary.

The official reply said that this rule was for Prime
Minister and Ministers but it remains silent about the
President and other constitutional authorities, a fact which
pointed out by Agrawal before Dixit during the hearing.

"The Appellant (Agrawal) studied the information
provided and informed the Commission that information sought
against some of the categories of political rulers such as the
President and the Prime Minister, was still missing," Dixit
said in her order.

She also directed the ministry to provide information
about the process of assessment of gifts received and the list
of protocol order, by February 6, 2009. PTI ABS