CBI will send a team to London for Nirav Modi's case hearing, on 29 March.
New Delhi: Fugitive economic offender Nirav Modi's paintings, which were seized by ED officials, on Tuesday, raised Rs 55 crore in an auction in Mumbai.
Furthermore, CBI will send a team to London for Nirav Modi's case hearing, on 29 March.
A masterpiece by VS Gaitonde sold for Rs 25.2 crore. It was among the paintings seized from Nirav Modi's premises during raids after the PNB fraud was discovered.
The striking, deep red, untitled work by the eminent modernist artist, painted in 1973, became the fourth most expensive painting ever sold by the artist.
Also read: PNB scam accused Nirav Modi could be handed over India within just 6 months
Another iconic Raja Ravi Varma artwork, which was also among the paintings seized sold for Rs 16.1 crore. The historically significant oil painting with its masterful realism became the second highest price achieved at auction for an artwork by the artist.
Among other artworks seized from Nirav Modi's premises by the IT department include works by FN Souza, Akbar Padamsee's figurative work rendered in a grey palette, titled Grey Nude, Jagdish Swaminathan's vivid redwork from his Bird, Mountain, Tree series and Rameshwar Broota's A Child, the Youth, now Man, 2003. All these paintings were also auctioned after the courts allowed the authorities to auction the artworks.
The auction marks the first time in India that a professional auction house has been appointed by the Tax Recovery Officer of the Income Tax department to conduct an art auction on their behalf.
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