According to the Financial Times of the UK: "Gandhi memorabilia sell for $1.8million" Reporter Alan Rappeport states: Memorabilia of Mahatma Gandhi were sold at auction for $1.8m to an Indian businessman on Thursday despite the owner of the collection’s last-minute effort to retrieve the items, which included a bowl, a pocket watch, a pair of leather sandals and spectacles.
Less than an hour before the items were auctioned at Antiquorum auctioneers on Madison Avenue, James Otis, a Los Angeles-based filmmaker and peace activist said he decided that because of the international controversy over Gandhi’s possessions, he wanted to call off the auction and take them back.
“I pray that the outcome is positive and one that Gandhi would approve of,” said Mr Otis, who plans to begin a 23-day fast to contemplate his actions.Antiquorum insisted that the sale would go on, and after furious bidding a representative of Vijay Mallya, the billionaire chairman of United Breweries Group and Kingfisher Airlines, outlasted the other collectors.
Tony Bedi, who did the bidding for Mr Mallya, said that the items would be turned over to the Indian government and put on display. He said that he thought they were worth at least $6m.“Look at the history,” Mr Bedi said. “Gandhi is not about money but about peace.”
The sale of the items had become the subject of an international dispute and earlier this week Mr Otis offered to sell the rare collection to India to advance the cause of non-violence. But the negotiations broke down when the Indian government offered to pay only the reserve price of up to $30,000.On Wednesday a publishing house set up by Gandhi claimed to be the rightful owner of the Indian independence leader’s possessions and said it had launched a legal challenge to the sale through the Indian courts. The Delhi High Court also issued an injunction disputing the right of Mr Otis, who amassed the collection over the past 10 years, to own the items.
Prior to the bidding Antiquorum officials said there would be a two week delay before Gandhi’s goods would be delivered to the winner to allow time for the dispute over its owners to be resolved. Afterwards Robert Maron, chairman of Antiquorum, said he was happy that the memorabilia was out of the private sector and would be returned to India.
But hours after the auction Mr Otis apparently had another change of heart. Ravi Batra, a lawyer who said he was representing Mr Otis, said that his client was pleased that the items were won by a reputable person who intended to return them to India and that they would ratify the auction. He would not comment on how much of the $1.8m Mr Otis would collect or what he would do with the money.“No harm, no foul,” Mr Batra said.
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