NEW DELHI (AP) – India’s government rejected a proposal Thursday by the owner of Mohandas Gandhi’s eyeglasses and other personal items that would have halted their auction, and instead vowed to buy the independence leader’s possessions. Later at the auction, which was conducted by the New York company Antiquorum, an Indian business tycoon acting in concert with the Indian government prevailed on the Gandhi items, paying $2,096,000. The price includes a 20 percent buyer’s premium to $1 million; 12 percent on the excess.

A March 6 report filed online by the news agency Xinhua stated that an Indian court order had prohibited the Indian government from bidding on the items, so in a deal organized through the Indian Consulate in New York, they were bid on and purchased for India through a wealthy middle man – Vijay Mallya, chairman of United Breweries Group and Kingfisher Airlines.

Mallya, whose wealth is estimated at $1.2 billion, has a history of successful bidding at auction to repatriate items of great cultural value to India. At a 2004 auction in London, he placed the winning bid of $249,000 for a sword that had belonged to Sultan Fateh Ali Tipu (1750-1799). Mallya returned the important historical relic to India.

The planned auction of Gandhi items, which were consigned by collector and peace activist James Otis, raised an outcry in India, prompting the government to attempt to bring the pacifist icon’s belongings back to his homeland.

Otis said he planned to sell the Gandhi items to raise money to promote pacifism. According to Britain’s BBC News, Otis has pledged to give “every penny” of the auction proceeds to nonviolent causes, particularly in developing countries.
Continue reading