Did PM Narendra Modi violate code of conduct by accepting suit?

NEW DELHI: Even as Gujarat businessman Rameshkumar Bhikabhai claimed on Wednesday that he had gifted the monogrammed suit to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his "friend" of "four decades", the code of conduct for ministers issued by the home ministry clearly restrains both Union and state ministers from accepting a valuable gift unless it is from a close relative.
"A minister should not accept valuable gifts except from close relatives, and he or members of his family should not accept any gifts at all from any person with whom he may have official dealings," reads the code of conduct applicable to Union ministers, chief ministers as well as state ministers.
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The authority for ensuring observance of the code of conduct lies with the prime minister in the case of Union ministers, the prime minister and Union home minister in the case of chief ministers and the chief minister concerned in the case of state ministers.
As per clause 4.2 of the code of conduct for ministers, a minister may receive gifts during his visits abroad or from foreign dignitaries in India. Such gifts fall into two categories. The first include gifts that are of symbolic nature, like a sword of honour or ceremonial robes, which can be retained by the minister. However, the second category of gifts, which are non-symbolic, may be retained only if their value is less than Rs 5,000. Gifts of a higher value must be deposited in the Toshakhana (government storehouse) or purchased by the recipient by paying the difference between value of the item as assessed by Toshakhana and Rs 5,000.
Only household gifts retained by Toshakhana such as carpets, paintings, furniture exceeding Rs 5,000 are kept in Rashtrapati Bhavan, Prime Minister's House or Raj Bhavan as State property.

(PM Narendra Modi's monogrammed bandhgala suit on display in Surat where it is being auctioned for charity.)
Bhikabhai has, in an interview to ANI, claimed that he gifted the suit to Modi to wear on his son's wedding. "I am from Gujarat. I presented this suit to him (Modi) when I attended the recent Vibrant Gujarat Summit. I gave it while extending an invitation to him to attend my son's wedding on January 26," he was quoted as saying.
"I gave this gift to my elder brother (Modi) on behalf of my son. My son had this idea of making this monogrammed suit. He said he wanted to give a surprise to Modiji," Bhikabhai said adding that the Rs 10 lakh quoted for the suit was not the correct price.
"My son does not have the guts to spend that kind of money," he claimed.
Bhikabhai claimed that Modi, while accepting the suit as a gift, had promised to wear it but said he would later give it to charity. "The fact is that Modiji wore this (suit) on the day of my son's wedding on January 26," he told ANI.
Read this article in Hindi: विवादित सूटः क्या प्रधानमंत्री ने नियम तोड़ा है?