Amarjot Kaur
Tribune press service
Chandigarh, September 17th
A copious list of questions, as well as a copy of the MHA order banning the export of heritage furniture from Chandigarh, was sent today to the Luxembourg Ministry of Culture.
In response to an e-mail sent by lawyer Chris Backes of the Luxembourg Ministry of Culture, who requested details of the six heritage objects of the city auctioned on September 18 to Stadtbredimus, a member of the protection cell UT Heritage Objects Ajay Jagga asked the auction house to provide details of the acquisition of the city’s heritage furnishings.
Confirming that the six pieces of furniture come from Chandigarh, Jagga asked the Luxembourg ministry to inquire exclusively about the purchase of each heritage furniture. He asks the auction house for the name of the âAdministrative Buildingâ from which the Jeanneret scissors chair without cushion (article n ° 71) was acquired, as well as the invoice from the administration in the name of the buyer. He also asked if the buyers came to India on a business visa and followed the business laws in India and Luxembourg. A “customs clearance according to this invoice” was also requested from the auction house.
Similar questions, regarding invoices and proof of sale of furniture, in accordance with Indian laws, were put to the auction house through the Luxembourg Ministry.
Jagga demanded the “High Court invoice in the buyer’s name” also for another heirloom piece of furniture (# 72), a pair of Jeanneret-style upholstered recliners, which the auction house claims to have taken from a ” 2007 private collection â. High Court Chandigarh, India â.
The auction house provided details of the city’s heirloom furniture, indicating that all six of them were acquired in 2007 from the private collection of “Punjab Physics University Chandigarh, India”, “Hight court Chandigarh, India “and” Administrative buildings, Chandigarh, India “.
Earlier on September 13, Jagga wrote to the Luxembourg Minister of Culture, the Indian Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Indian diplomat in Luxembourg / Berlin for returning the heritage furnishings of City Beautiful, in accordance with United Nations property conventions. cultural values ââof a country.
In his letter to Backes, he writes: âThe aim is to ensure that there is no violation of the laws relating to cultural objects / heritage. The sellers must be legitimate owners and this, in my opinion, can be established by an investigation by the law enforcement agencies of the country in which the auction is taking place. And, if the auction house is a clear, clean and legal owner, it should not hesitate to be investigated and should welcome, but if there are issues regarding the correct importation into Luxembourg, then the right international or United Nations conventions say to return cultural / heritage objects. “