Some 15 rare paintings seized by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) from the residence of fugitive diamond businessman Nirav Modi are scheduled to be auctioned on March 5.
These paintings and other items were seized by the ED from Modi's houses after the agency registered a money laundering case against him and his uncle, Mehul Choksi, for allegedly defrauding Punjab National Bank (PNB) of Rs 13,600 crore.
The auction is to be held after the Bombay High Court on March 4 refused to stay the process. A division bench of Acting Chief Justice BP Dharmadhikari and Justice NR Borkar heard a petition filed by the businessman's son Rohin Modi, claiming that the paintings were owned by the Rohin Trust, of which he was a beneficiary, and not owned by Nirav Modi.
Rohin Modi's counsel Amit Desai argued that the paintings cannot be construed as proceeds of crime and his client was not an accused in the case.
The plea was opposed by the ED’s counsels Anil Singh and Hiten Venegaonkar, who argued that Rohin Modi, Nirav Modi and his wife were beneficiaries of the trust. They further argued that the paintings were attached by the ED in March 2019, and an advertisement for the auction was issued in January 2020.
The bench, after hearing arguments, noted that the petitioner (Rohin Modi) had approached the court at the "eleventh hour".
"The Rohin Trust has not approached this court...neither have the other beneficiaries of the trust, Nirav Modi and his wife, approached this court. There is no attempt to justify late approach," the bench said in its order.
"In this situation, we are not inclined to pass interim orders. The ED shall file its affidavit in response to the plea by March 23," the court said.
The bench, however, directed the ED to deposit the auction proceeds in a separate bank account and not use the same until further orders.
Earlier on March 4, cars, sculptures and personal objects of value including watches and designer handbags belonging to Nirav Modi went under the hammer.
According to a Business Standard report, the auction was conducted by Saffronart on behalf of the deputy director, ED, Mumbai. It was expected to garner Rs 50 lakh in proceeds, but generated over four times that number, said the report.
(With inputs from PTI)
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