Court nod to sell Nirav Modi’s properties

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday obtained permission to sell watches, cars, paintings and other articles belonging to fugitive jeweller Nirav Modi. The

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday obtained permission to sell watches, cars, paintings and other articles belonging to fugitive jeweller Nirav Modi. The articles were seized by the agency during a raid of his properties earlier this year.

HT Image

The ED had approached the special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court, seeking permission to sell these assets, which include items recovered from Modi’s house Samudra Mahal, along with eight cars seized by the agency and paintings seized by the Income Tax (I-T) department.

Special PMLA judge VC Barde has allowed the ED to sell properties seized from Modi’s Worli house, including watches, paintings, bags, and jewellery valued at ₹40.83 core, along with eight cars. The court has, however, denied the ED permission to sell the paintings recovered by the I-T department.

The court has asked the department to deposit the sale proceeds into a fixed deposit with a nationalised bank.

The agency had approached the court, claiming that the seized paintings are valued at ₹57.72 crore, and are perishable. “The paintings and articles mentioned are perishable and prone to speedy natural decay. And the expenses of maintenance shall exceed its value if they are kept in idle for a long period,” read the ED’s plea.

The agency further claimed that 55 of the 173 paintings seized by the I-T department have already been auctioned.