MF Husain's 25 rare paintings worth ₹25 crore set for auction in Mumbai after HC Bombay ruling
Twenty-five rare paintings by renowned Indian artist MF Husain will reportedly be auctioned on June 12 following permission from the Bombay high court.
The artworks are part of MF Husain's 'Our Planet Called Earth' series and are titled under the auction theme 'MF Husain: An Artist's Vision of the XX Century.' according to news agency PTI.
The auction will be held at Hamilton House in south Mumbai.
These paintings were secured by the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED) as part of a case involving an unpaid loan of ₹236 crore by industrialist Guru Swarup Srivastava's Swarup Group of Industries.
In 2007, Srivastava had gained attention when he commissioned 100 paintings from Husain, agreeing to pay ₹1 crore for each.
The Bombay High Court, in an order dated February 17, allowed the Sheriff of Mumbai to carry out the auction. The Sheriff issued the auction notice in February through Pundole art gallery.
Last year, art expert Dadiba Pundole submitted a valuation report to the court, estimating the paintings to be worth ₹25 crore.
After the auction, the Sheriff must report back to the High Court by July 3 and await further instructions on what to do with the proceeds.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) began looking into the Swarup Group in 2006 for alleged misuse of ₹150 crore from the total ₹236 crore loan taken from NAFED.
A tribunal in 2008 had allowed NAFED to secure assets worth ₹100 crore, including the Husain artworks.
(With PTI inputs)
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