There seems to be no end to the auction of Chandigarh’s heritage furniture in foreign countries. Two out of four items designed by Swiss- French architect Le Corbusier and his associate Pierre Jeanneret again went under the hammer for a whopping Rs 27.85 lakh in an auction held in London.

A pair of ‘committee’ chairs, model no. PJ-SI-30-A, designed for the High Court and administrative buildings, was auctioned for 13,750 British pounds while a pair of advocate and press chairs designed by Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret, model no. LC/PJ-SI-41-A, designed for the High Court, went for 18,750 British pounds.

Recently, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) wrote to the Punjab government to initiate action under conduct rules against their official N P S Randhawa, former museum director, for his alleged transactions with a businessman accused of antique smuggling of furniture from Chandigarh.

Punjab Local Bodies and Cultural Affairs Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu had written to Chief Minister Amarinder Singh asking him to dismiss the official. Sidhu had told that the vigilance department is with the Chief Minister and it is he who can order an inquiry into the case. Sidhu even said that if nothing happens, he would get an FIR lodged in the case as Tourism Minister. Social Activist Ajay Jagga has been constantly writing about the auctions in advance to the higher authorities but to no avail.

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