Remember the lucky IIT-JEE Topper who was gifted a BMW by his coaching institute? He has returned the car, here's why

Tanmaya Shekhawat, who cracked one of the toughest examinations in the country to secure admission to IITs this year, was one of the few lucky IITians to have been felicitated with a BMW car by his coaching institute called the Samarpan Career Institute at Sikar, for his feat.

The boy had accepted the expensive gift from the institute and media had reported widely about the star. In a dramatic turn of events, however, Tanmaya’s father Rajeshwar Singh Shekhawat recently asked the institute’s director RL Poonia to sell the car and give the family money instead. He suggested they could keep the car and gift something else to his son if they wanted to, even a laptop.

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For Rajeshwar, a school teacher in Rajasthan’s Churu, the high maintenance and running costs of the vehicle was too much of a burden. “Even if we take the 28-lakh rupee as a gift we’ll have to pay 33% of the amount as tax. From where do we bring 9 lakh rupees? The car has very low mileage and one service costs Rs 85,000,” Rajeshwar told HT.

Meanwhile, the director informed the media that the family had earlier kept the car
because the boy’s maternal uncle in Mumbai could manage it. However, he said they want to sell it now as they need money for the treatment of the boy’s mother, who is a kidney patient

Poonia has now said he will put up the car for sale at a function to mark the institute’s foundation day on December 15.
“It’s an expensive car with a different clientele and it will be difficult to find a buyer for the car. The boy’s family is free to sell the car themselves too,” he said.