Court bans sales of Gandhi relics

India stepped up its efforts to regain some of Gandhi’s possessions today after a court passed an order to prevent the sale.

The Navjivan Trust, which takes care of Gandhi’s belongings in India, filed a suit against the auction and in return the Delhi High Court passed an interim injunction order to stop the articles being sold in New York.

Lawyer Mohan Parasaran, for the trust said under private international law the issue of jurisdiction did not come in the way of the order.

“Any article belonging to Gandhi is of great heritage value and is considered legitimately owned by India,” he said.

The government has been trying to prevent Gandhi’s spectacles, sandals, pocket watch and a few utensils from going under the hammer on Thursday.

The articles are expected to fetch up to £21,000 (€23,384).

Los Angeles documentary producer James Otis, who put the items up for sale, is hoping India might feel some benefit.

“We hope if these items do go on sale, and the Indian government doesn’t come up with an offer prior to the auction, that the items will go for a lot, and that many people will benefit.”

“We have gone to the Indian government and made an offer to them: if they were to increase their help of the poorest of Indians, increase their GDP from 1% to 5%, I would gladly donate these items to them, and they would be happy and a cause that Gandhi believed in greatly, the poorest of those in India, would be benefited,” he added.

Senior officials of the Indian consulate in New York are holding negotiations with the auctioneers to acquire the items.

But a spokesperson from the New York-based auction house claimed that they had not been contacted by any representative of the Indian government.