Sitting in his sprawling bungalow designed by him in Corbusier’s trademark minimalist style, Sharma flatly denies that he has sold any Corbusier artefacts in his possession. He goes on to argue, however, that it is no crime if he did, since they are his private property. “But to take old drawings that are the property of the administration and pass them on to auction houses, like Joshi has done, is unpardonable,” he says.

Meanwhile, two former principals of the Chandigarh College of Architecture, a favourite haunt of French collectors who have been picking up furniture designed by Corbusier or Jeanneret at routine auctions of ‘condemned’ furniture by the college, are also trading allegations. At an auction held in 1999 when professor I.J.S. Bakshi (who, incidentally, is Joshi’s husband) was principal, Eric Touchaleaueme, a French collector, bought up most of the items on offer. Some auction committee members, among them the then vice principal of the college, Rajnish Wattas, have since alleged that Bakshi was particularly interested in selling the items to Touchaleaueme. While denying these allegations, Bakshi has levelled his own—that in 2008, Wattas, who was then principal, auctioned 55 hostel beds designed by Corbusier for a mere Rs 10,000, ostensibly to oblige a mysterious third party.

As all this plays out, the Chandigarh administration, sitting pretty on its inquiry reports, offers little clarity. In a half-hearted attempt to stall the February sale at Artcurial, it had sent an indignant fax message to the auction house, asking for the sale to be halted, and for a full disclosure of the sources of the artefacts. The auction house did not oblige, pointing out that the letter had not been signed by anyone, and was not on official letterhead. A three-year-old exercise to make an inventory of all heritage items lying in government departments and elsewhere in Chandigarh has been just as inadequate. Says Wattas, who at one time headed the committee in charge of this: “Our committee was toothless, and we lacked a legal framework to define what heritage items are.” Curiously, he adds: “No one, for instance, knew what the Frenchies would like.” At his suggestion, a larger, more powerful committee was set up, but it never met. He, like Sharma and Joshi, feel the administration should clear the air by making its inquiry report into the latest round of allegations public and take action against the guilty. Easier said than done. Finance secretary Sanjay Kumar told Outlook that he is yet to read it since it is a voluminous document. Till then, speculation mounts and Chandigarh’s chatterati are in full voice. As for Corbusier’s legacy, it’s clearly for sale.