25 rare M F Husain paintings to go under hammer after Bombay High Court nod

Mumbai: Twenty five rare paintings of late Indian modernist painter M F Husain, secured by NAFED as part of the proceeds of an alleged loan default case, will be auctioned on June 12 pursuant to a nod from the Bombay High Court.

The auction titled, 'M F Husain: An Artist's Vision of the XX Century', includes 25 canvases painted as part of Husain's OPCE - Our Planet Called Earth - series.

In its February 17 order, a single bench of Justice R I Chagla permitted the Sheriff of Mumbai to auction the 25 paintings, secured by the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED) in connection with the Rs 236 crore loan dispute with industrialist Guru Swarup Srivastava's Swarup Group of Industries.

Srivastava came into limelight in 2007 when he commissioned 100 paintings of M F Husain at Rs 1 crore each.

In May last year, art specialist Dadiba Pundole submitted to the HC the valuation report of the paintings, as per which they were valued at Rs 25 crore.

Pursuant to the HC order, the Sheriff of Mumbai in February issued an auction notice for the paintings through Pundole art gallery.

The auction is scheduled on June 12 at the Hamilton House in south Mumbai.

After the auction is complete, the Sheriff of Mumbai has been directed to file a report to the high court by July 3 and obtain final directions for handover of the works.

In 2006, the CBI initiated a probe into the Swarup Group and against Srivastava for alleged misappropriation of Rs 150 crore from the Rs 236 crore loans from NAFED.

A tribunal in December 2008 permitted NAFED to secure assets of Rs 100 crore, including the Husain paintings.