Chair seized by Customs at Delhi PU heritage: FRI

Ramkrishan Upadhyay 

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 4

The Forest Research Institute (FRI), Dehradun, has confirmed that a chair seized at the Delhi airport by the Customs Department resembles the heritage chairs of the Panjab University (PU) library.

The Architect Department of the UT had sent the chair marked “PUL-116” to the FRI, Dehradun, to confirm whether it was made of the same wood which were used in the heritage furniture of the PU.

A consignment of 14 heritage chairs was withheld by Customs officials in Delhi three months ago. The Customs Department then asked the UT Administration to confirm if the chairs were Le Corbusier’s creations.

The consignment was meant for Belgium and the estimated cost of the furniture runs into more than Rs 10 crore in the international market. The furniture bore the initials ‘PUL’, which indicate that these were from the PU library. A team of the Architectural Department, UT, also visited Delhi and after preliminary enquiries confirmed that the chairs were part of the iconic furniture of Corbusier and his cousin Pearre Jeanneret, created for the university.

The PU has filed a complaint with the local police to investigate but failed to identify from where it was stolen. Then, the Administration had sent the seized chair with one of the chairs from the university to the FRI to confirm whether both were made of the same wood. 

Sources said in the report, the FRI confirmed that both the chairs were made of the same wood, which proved that the chair was stolen from the PU. 

Cops to intensify probe

• The UT police, during a meeting on Tuesday, have decided to write to the Customs Department to allow them to retain the seized furniture for six more months for further probe.
• Sources said PU officials were also present in the meeting who were told to help the police to identify the culprit.
• This was the first consignment of the Corbusier heritage to be recovered before being smuggled out to foreign country and getting auctioned. 
• The heritage furniture of the PU has been sold at auctions in the USA, France and other European nations for crores. 
• Recently, three items were auctioned in Mumbai for Rs 80 lakh.