New Delhi, Jan. 10: Going on 27, but yet to be born.
That, in a nutshell, is the story of the amendment the government has been trying to bring to the Antiquities and Art Treasures Act, 1972, which has practically brought the shutters down on antique business in India.
The first time the government told Parliament it would amend the act, slammed as "draconian" by collectors, was in 1985. Since then, the assurance has been extended nine times.
But don't lose hope yet, the labour pangs have started again.
In a few weeks, yet another committee set up to draft the amendment is expected to submit a report to the culture ministry.
An application filed by The Telegraph under the Right to Information Act revealed the reason behind the marathon endeavour that is yet to come up with an amendment even after 26 years.
In its reply, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) explained the need to balance the act's tough provisions against smuggling with greater freedom in domestic trade.
"The amendment to the act has been under consideration of the government to provide for more stringent provisions against illegal and unauthorised export of antiquities and art treasures while permitting a greater flexibility for domestic trade. Several attempts... did not prove to be conclusive," the reply said.
Under the act, passed in 1972 and notified in 1976, all objects more than 100 years old have to be registered with the ASI along with a photograph.
If a person does not register or wrongly registers the object, he or she can be punished. The act also gives the ASI powers to raid any house if it feels antique items have been stored wrongfully.
The objective was to stop smuggling and ensure that Indian antiques remained within the country.
But what's all the fuss about?
Apparently, the main bone of contention is the registration clause.
"What has this draconian act achieved since it was notified? The ASI claims they have registered three lakh objects out of three billion or 30 billion antique objects in this country," said Suresh Neotia, an avid art collector.
Neotia was part of the R.N. Mishra committee, which the government recently set up to draft the amendment. But his note of dissent against the Mishra panel's recommendations forced the ministry to form another committee under the chairmanship of Justice Mudgil. This committee is scheduled to submit its report soon.
According to Neotia, Indian antiques in India became "non-existent" after the act was notified. "Most of the art pieces either went underground or important pieces were smuggled out. The act was conceived to stop smuggling, but it resulted in just the reverse," Neotia said.
Fellow collector Pratapaditya Pal agreed. "I can categorically state that the greatest flow of art from India occurred in and around the time the 1972 act was imprudently and hastily passed. The '70s and '80s witnessed a flood," he wrote in comments submitted to the culture ministry after the government asked for feedback on the amendment exercise.
Others said a direct fallout of the act was the crash in prices. "The prices of antiques crashed. In fact, smuggling increased since people were getting better prices outside India. Look at China. In the last 10 years, because of progressive policy, the value of Chinese art in China is higher than in international markets. Thus, it has eradicated smuggling," said collector Chotte Lal Bharany.
Bharany said many industrialists have made it to the world's richest list since the 1990s. "But have you seen any of them being an antique collector. People buy Raza and Hussain paintings at exorbitant prices, but how many pay a similar amount for a Pala sculpture or any other antique?"
There are no comments yet