HC directs I-T dept. to reply to petition challenging auction of Nirav Modi’s artworks

The department on March 12 had appointed Saffronart to auction the seized artworks of the fugitive diamantaire evaluated at ₹57.72 crore

March 28, 2019 12:41 am | Updated 08:56 am IST - Mumbai

Prized possession: Raja Ravi Varma’s 1881 work depicting the Maharaja of Travancore welcoming the Duke of Buckingham and the Governor General of Madras was sold for ₹16.1 crore.

Prized possession: Raja Ravi Varma’s 1881 work depicting the Maharaja of Travancore welcoming the Duke of Buckingham and the Governor General of Madras was sold for ₹16.1 crore.

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday directed the Income Tax (I-T) department to file a reply to a petition by fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi’s firm, Camelot Enterprises, challenging the auction of 68 paintings belonging to him.

A Division Bench of Justices Akil Kureshi and Sarang Kotwal heard a petition filed by Mr. Modi’s firm challenging the auction proceedings initiated by the Tax Recovery Officer (TRO) for recovering Mr. Modi’s dues arising out of the assessment orders passed as per the I-Tax Act.

Mr. Modi’s lawyer told the court that copies of the orders have not been provided to them due to which they have been unable to appeal against the assessment orders passed on December 18, 2018. He also mentioned that out of the 68 artworks up for auction, Mr. Modi is the owner of only 19 of them. The court has directed the I-T department to file a reply on March 30 and adjourned the matter to April 1.

Leading Tuesday’s auction of Mr. Modi’s seized artworks, was an untitled 1973 work by modernist V.S. Gaitonde, which sold for ₹25.2 crore. As reported by this paper on March 12, Saffronart had been appointed by the I-T department to auction the seized artworks evaluated at ₹57.72 crore.

Among the other historically significant works was the sale of a painting by Raja Ravi Varma that sold for ₹16.1 crore. F.N. Souza proved a favourite, with lots by the artist witnessing competitive bidding. Souza’s 1974 work, ‘Cityscape’, painted a few years after his move to New York from London, and ‘Golly-Wog’ (1958), crossed their higher estimates to sell for ₹1.78 crore and ₹1.38 crore respectively. Other highlights in the auction included Akbar Padamsee’s figurative work, ‘Grey Nude’ (1960) (₹1.72 crore), Jagdish Swaminathan’s work from his ‘Bird, Mountain, Tree’ series (₹80.5 lakh) and Rameshwar Broota’s ‘A Child, the Youth, now Man’ (2003) (₹74.75 lakh).

Among contemporary Indian artists, Jitish Kallat’s ‘Untitled (Eclipse) - 6’, (2007-2008) and Atul Dodiya’s ‘Cracks in Mondrian – Hyderabad’ (2004-2005) sold for ₹69 lakh each. There was enthusiastic bidding for the five contemporary Chinese works, with Xu Lei’s ‘The End of the World’ (2009) selling at nearly five times its higher estimate for₹74.75 lakh. Chen Ke’s ‘Vast Bay and Boundless Sea’ (2009) crossed its higher estimate to sell for ₹21.9 lakh and Wu Yi’s ‘Peach Garden’ sold for more than four times its higher estimate at ₹12.65 lakh.

The I-T department had mandated Saffronart to conduct the auction under the Second Schedule of the Income Tax Act, 1961, and had provided a price estimation band to the auctioneer in advance. Tax officials have confirmed that so far no dispute has arisen in any of the bid lot necessitating a re-auction. “We have already authorised the auctioneer to collect 10% amount of the final bid within four days on behalf of the TRO, which has to be deposited in the Government Treasury,” said an official adding that the balance 90% of the winning bid amount will be submitted by April 27.

The failure to do so by Saffronart will make the entire auction invalid. The I-T dept also authorised Saffronart to charge a premium of between 15% and 12% on each artwork sold.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.