14 heritage items to be auctioned in Luxembourg

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 6

As many as 14 heritage items, designed by architects Pierre Jeanneret and Le Corbusier, will be auctioned in Luxembourg on January 10.

The heritage items, likely to fetch between Rs1.44 crore and Rs1.75 crore, include an office cane chair, office cane chairs with inclined backrest, a set of two senate committee chairs, a set of two easy armchairs, a cafeteria table, dining chairs, a low fireside chair, a student chair, a small desk, a teak sofa, a set of two armchairs and a set of two stools.

In a letter, Ajay Jagga, member, Heritage Protection Cell, Chandigarh, requested Santosh Jha, Ambassador of India to Luxembourg, to initiate an inquiry into the auction of heritage goods as to how these banned items had gone beyond the territory of India in violation of the MHA orders, dated February 22, 2011.

He also requested the Ambassador to look into the matter so that the auction of the smuggled heritage items could be stalled after ascertaining the facts.