A CAG report has found that standard system of purchase and acquisition of antiquities was not followed by the Indian Museum Kolkata and raised questions on how these items reach auction houses like Sotheby's and Christie's, the Supreme Court has been told.
The documents, containing CAG's remarks, have been filed before a bench headed by Chief Justice R M Lodha in connection with a case relating to missing of an official of the museum who has also highlighted the financial irregularities before he went missing.
"The CAG report raises questions as to how antiquities of national importance reach viz. Auction houses viz. Sotheby's, Christie's, etc," the documents said.
Also Read
These documents were filed in a pending habeas corpus petition (a plea filed to secure presence of missing persons) in which the apex court has already sought West Bengal government's response on the whereabouts of whistleblower Sunil Kumar Upadhaya.
It said the CAG report is a part of Performance Audit of Preservation and Conservation of Monuments and Antiquities the Ministry of Culture conducted in 2013.
The petition, filed by a relative of Upadhaya, said that several RTI applications regarding the investigation in the missing of Kolkata museum's preservation officer were filed with West Bengal Police but no satisfactory reply has been received.
The documents, filed through advocate Anirudh Sharma, said the observations in the CAG report have "unequivocally" observed significant discrepancies in the number of antiquities reportedly available in the Indian Museum.
The lawyer said that in respect to Indian Museum, Kolkata, the CAG report has stated that no standard system for purchases and acquisition of antiquities by way of gifts was there.
Krishan Mohan Upadhaya, a Ghaziabad resident who had moved the court in the case, also said that the CAG report has also raised questions on authenticity of the artefacts.
