HC allows auctioning of 15 rare paintings owned by Rohin trust

Nirav Modi

In a setback to fugitive diamond businessman Nirav Modi, the Bombay High Court on Wednesday allowed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to auction 15 rare paintings owned by Rohin Trust. The High Court has rejected the plea filed Nirav Modi's son, Rohin Modi, in which he challenged the auction of paintings by ED.

During the investigation, the agency has seized some rare paintings at Nirav Modi's residence in connection with Punjab National Bank fraud case of Rs 13,000 crore.

In his petition, Rohin mentioned that the paintings are owned by Rohin trust and not Nirav Modi. The defence lawyer has argued saying that the paintings were never attached and mentioned as a purchase of crime proceeds by ED. The petitioner is a beneficiary in the trust to whom the paintings belong and he is not an accused in any of these cases. The prosecution lawyer informed the court that on 19th March 2019, paintings were attached. Nirav Modi's wife who is also a co-accused is a 90 per cent shareholder in the trust.

After hearing both the sides, the court has refused to stay the auctioning process of paintings. The court has said that there was a delay by the petitioner in approaching the court and there is no justification for that. The investigating agency didn't get enough time to respond.

However, the court has also directed ED to use the auction proceeds deposit in the same bank account until the final outcome of Rohin Modi's plea.

On 5th March, ED is getting following collections of PNB bank scam accused Nirav Modi auctioned. The auctioning will be done by Saffron art on behalf of ED. Last year also several paintings owned by Nirav Modi were auctioned by the IT department.

List and estimate price of the collectables-

- Boys with lemons (Amrita Shergil) - Rs 12-18 cr
- Battle of Ganga and Jamuna-Mahabharta (M F Hussain)- Rs12-18 cr
- Painting by V S Gaitonde- Rs 7-9 cr- Painting by Manjit Bawa- Rs 3-5 cr
- Painting by Raja Ravi Verma- Rs 2-3 cr
- Two luxury watches
-a Jaeger-Le Coultre wrist watch- Rs 55-70 lakh
- a Patek Philippe wristwatch- Rs 55- 70 lakh
- Two Hand bags
- A Hermes Kelly Blue Atoll bag- Rs 4-6 lakh
- A Hermes Birkin bag- Rs 3-5 lakh
-A Rolls-Royce - Rs 75-95 lakh

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