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“I do not believe that I have any property,” the Mahatma begins his last testament dated February 20, 1940. “Nevertheless,” he continues, “anything which by social convention or in law is considered mine: anything movable or immovable, books, articles, etc, that I have written and may write hereafter, whether printed or not printed and all their copyright, I endow as my heirs the Navjivan Institution”.
These last words of the Father of the Nation swayed the Delhi High Court on Tuesday to put a stay on the auction, less than 24 hours before five of his personal belongings were to go under the hammer. The items include a Zenith watch, sandals, bowl/plate, glasses, three body bassine at Antiquorum Auctioneers of 595, Madission Avenue, New York.
The Washington Post had reported the starting price for these articles at 20,000 to 30,000 dollars.
The ex-parte order from Justice Anil Kumar is based on an application moved by the Ahmedabad-based Navajivan Institution, the public trust started by Gandhi on November 26, 1929, successfully evoking their claim over all personal items of the Mahatma.
“The Mahatma’s Will gives an overriding power to the Trust over all his belongings.
A court in India like the Delhi High Court is a natural forum to approach to seek justice for the Father of the Nation,” Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Mohan Parasaran, who represented the Trust, told Newsline.
The Trust has also demanded Rs 2 lakh from the auctioneers as notional damage to the articles.
The court found “prima facie” truth in Parasaran’s argument that it is an “undisputable fact” based on the words of the Will that the organisation has “absolute ownership, if any, left behind by the Mahatma”.
The Trust quoted as precedent a similar incident in 1996 when the erstwhile private secretary of Gandhi, V Kalyanam, had approached the Madras High Court to stay the auction of his employer’s autographed handwritings by Philips International Auctioneers of London under the title ‘The Last Papers of Mahatma Gandhi’.
“Autographed writings or other chattels, including his personal effects, are a precious part of India’s national heritage. It has always been the endeavour of the Trust to secure not only the original works, but also any moveable or immoveable property owned by the Mahatma to be preserved as a part of history and heritage of this country,” Parasaran argued in court. The fact that the identities of those who brought the articles up for auction still remains a “great mystery”, the ASG contended, is an added reason why the auction should be stayed in order not to lose the “trail”. “The Directorate of Revenue has already started an investigation as to whether there was any other contravention of the Antiques and Artifacts Treasury Act, 1972 and the Customs Act, 1962,” the application revealed. The probe will track how the articles were “taken out of India and brought up for auction 60 years after his death, and that too in New York”.
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