A collection of 112 lots of prized assets belonging to absconder diamantaire Nirav Modi shall be put up for live and online auctions starting here on February 27, officials said.
These assets were seized by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the auction is an attempt to recover a part of the dues Modi owes to various banks.
The lots going under the hammer in two separate auctions would include major artworks by top contemporary and modern Indian artists, coveted luxury watches, handbags and cars.
The first auction shall be conducted by Saffronart as the Spring Live Auction here on Thursday (Feb. 27), followed by the Spring Online Auction on (March 3-4).
The first auction comprises around 40 lots including 15 artworks worth in crores of rupees, and the rest will go for auction next week, according to Saffronart.
Leading the pack in the sale are works by M. F. Husain, Amrita Sher-Gil. They are: aBoys With Lemons' a 1935 masterpiece by Sher-Gil, - described as a aNon-exportable national art treasure' - and Husain's 1972 masterpiece aBattle of Ganga and Jamuna Mahabharata 12'.
Both these paintings are estimated to fetch between Rs.12-18 crores and Sher-Gil's work is coming in a public sale for the first time.
Therea¿a 1972 V. S. Gaitonde's untitled painting estimated to sell between Rs.Seven-Nine crores, a 1992 untitled creation of Lord Krishna by Manjit Bawa for Rs.Three-Five crore, an untitled work by Raja Ravi Varma commanding between Rs.Two-Three crore, and a 1996 painting aTwenty-seven Ducks of Memory' by Arpita Singh for Rs.1.20-1.80 crore.
In the sub-crore rupees list are works by Ganesh Pyne, K. K. Hebbar, Vishwanath Nageshkar, Sudhanshu Choudhary and Shan Bhatnagar.
A Rolls-Royce Ghost with advanced features, technology and comforts will also be on auction (live) estimated at Rs.75-95 lakhs, besides a 2010 Porsche Panamera for between Rs.10-15 lakhs (online).
Over two dozen luxury items including watches worth millions of rupees like a rare Jaeger-LeCoultre Men's 'Reverso Gyrotourbillon 2' limited edition and a Patek Phillipe 'Nautilus' Gold and Diamond Wristwatch, shall also be on auction, both expected to fetch between Rs.55-70 lakhs each.
The auctions will feature several top brands of handbags like Birkin and Kelly from Hermes, in the range of Rs. 3-6 lakhs.
The other items will be expensive personal collectibles from Chanel, Piaget, Celine and Louis Vuitton, Cartier Asymmetric 'Crash' wristwatch, etc.
Incidentally, prior to the ED, Saffronart had conducted an auction of seized items on behalf of the IT Department in March 2019 and sold items worth Rs. 54.84 crore.
CAPF deployment for phase 2 of polls in Bengal to increase to 303 companies
Taking lessons from reports of sporadic violence in the first phase of Lok Sabha polls in West Bengal on Friday, especially at Cooch Behar, the Election Commission of India (ECI) is set to increase the deployment of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) for the second phase on April 26.
China-made drone seized near India-Pak border in Punjab
The Border Security Force (BSF) on Saturday said it has seized a China-made drone near the India-Pakistan border in Punjab's Amritsar district along with a packet of 500 gm of heroin.
87 killed, over 80 injured as heavy rains wreak havoc in Pakistan
At least 87 people have been killed and 82 others injured in separate rain-triggered incidents in Pakistan over the past week as heavy downpours continued to wreak havoc in parts of the country, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said.
'Yes, I am BJP's B team leader, so what', Deve Gowda responds to Rahul Gandhi
Former Prime Minister and Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) president H.D. Deve Gowda on Friday responding to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's 'JD-S is BJP's B team' remark, said: "Yes. I am BJP's B team leader. So what?"
Veddas of Sri Lanka have close genetic affinity with Indians, reveals study
The Vedda, an indigenous group of Sri Lanka, has a close genetic affinity with the Indian population, revealed a landmark study by 10 researchers from five institutions
LS polls: First phase sees 60.03 per cent voting against 69.43 per cent in 2019
Voting for the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections was held on Friday for 102 constituencies across 21 states and Union Territories (UTs) amid reports of violence from some parts of West Bengal and Manipur.
6 Eastern Nagaland districts abstain from voting amid shutdown call over ‘frontier territory’ demand
Despite the indefinite shutdown call given by the Naga bodies from Thursday evening, the Election Commission made all efforts to conduct polling in the six districts covering 20 of the state's 60 Assembly segments.
DMs, SPs of violence-hit MP districts transferred
The farmers agitation entered its eighth day on Thursday. The peasants have been on strike since June 1, demanding loan waiver and fair price for their produce.