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A Masterpiece Auction: Tax Authorities Raise Over Rs 55 Crore After Auctioning Nirav Modi’s Paintings
Swarajya Staff
Mar 27, 2019, 02:20 PM | Updated 02:20 PM IST
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Indian tax authorities on Tuesday (26 March) raised about $8 million (Rs 55 crores) in an auction by selling rare oil paintings belonging to fugitive billionaire jeweller Nirav Modi’s collection which were earlier seized by the government, reports Reuters.
Diamantaire Nirav Modi fled the country in January 2018 when details of the Rs 14,000 crore scam at the state-run Punjab National Bank (PNB) starting making headlines in the Indian media.
Following this, Enforcement Directorate (ED) had filed a petition with a CBI court to declare him a fugitive economic offender. Nirav Modi’s lawyers are contesting the case.
Tax officials appointed auction house Saffronart to oversee the sale of 68 works. While an oil painting by the celebrated nineteenth-century painter Raja Ravi Varma, a 19th garnered $2.3 million, another by modernist V S Gaitonde raised $3.7 million. “Over 80 per cent of the works on auction were sold,” said Saffronart Chief Executive Dinesh Vazirani.
2 paintings of Nirav Modi's collection-Untitled oil on canvas(pic 1) by VS Gaitonde sold for Rs 22 cr;oil on canvas depicting Maharaja of Tranvancore&his younger brother welcoming Richard Temple-Grenville,3rd Duke of Buckingham(pic 2) sold for Rs 14 cr(Pics courtesy- Saffron Art) pic.twitter.com/RNxq69G9Fu
— ANI (@ANI) March 26, 2019
Will Contest The Sale
India Law Alliance, the law firm representing the company which owned the art pieces on behalf of Nirav Modi has stated that will challenge the court order that allowed the auction. The Bombay High Court will hear the case on Wednesday (27 March).
Following a United Kingdom (UK) court order, Nirav Modi was arrested in London on 20 May (2019). Extradition proceedings against him have been initiated.
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