Imran Khan kept all the gifts he received

ISLAMABAD: Former Prime Minister Imran Khan during his three-and-a-half year tenure has received 58 gifts from world leaders worth Rs. Keep it

 According to Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, the most expensive of these gifts were sold in Dubai. According to information obtained by The News, Imran Khan had to pay for keeping 15 expensive gifts.

 He paid only Rs. 38 million for gifts worth Rs. 14 crore while he kept other gifts without paying any money.

 The most expensive gift he received was when he took the oath of office in August 2018.

 It contained a graph watch worth Rs. 8.5 crore which he found with a cuff link of over Rs. 56 lakhs, a pen of Rs. 15 lakhs and a ring of over Rs. 87 lakhs.

 The prices were fixed by the Evolution Committee which was formed by Imran Khan himself.

 All these gifts which were worth around Rs. 100 million and Imran Khan kept only 20% of the amount fixed in September 2018 ie Rs.

 Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif alleges that the gifts were later sold in Dubai for 155 million rupees.

It remains to be seen who paid for these gifts and whether Imran Khan paid capital gains tax.

 According to the rules and regulations, a gift received by a government official from a world leader is deposited in the treasury.

 If an official wants to keep this gift, he can keep it by paying a certain amount, which was 20% in the time of Imran Khan in September 2018 and thus he kept the above mentioned gifts with him.

 The rules were changed in December 2018 and this percentage was increased to 50%, on the payment of which gifts can be kept. Gifts that are not to be kept are deposited in the treasury or they are auctioned off and thus the proceeds from the auction are deposited in the public treasury.

 Coincidentally, Imran Khan had filed a case against former president Asif Ali Zardari and former prime ministers Nawaz Sharif and Yousuf Raza Gilani for possession of expensive gifts and vehicles from the treasury.

 Other gifts that Imran Khan kept with him included a Rolex watch, cufflinks, a ring, a box containing a necklace, bracelet and earrings worth Rs. 23.5 million and only one of them. Rs.1.5 crore was paid even though at the time when these gifts were kept, fifty per cent of the total amount was to be deposited as per the rules.

 Other gifts include a Rolex watch worth Rs. 38 lakhs which he kept in October 2018 and paid only Rs. 754,000.