Sunday 14 December 2014

Bid & Hammer wins Ravi Varma painting case against HCL Founder's wife Kiran Nadar

12 December 2014, Bangalore: In a landmark verdict running into 81 pages Hon. Justice R. Gururajan (High Court of Karnataka’s appointed arbitrator) has allowed the claims of Bid & Hammer (B&H) against Kiran Nadar, wife of HCL’s Shiv Nadar and owner of the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art as well as director of Shiv-Kiran-Nadar Investments (Chennai) Pvt Ltd., for failing to pay up the dues owed to it for the 120-yr-old Ravi Varmapainting ‘Jatayu Vadha’ that she had bid for on 30 November 2010 at their ‘Significant Indian Paintings’ auction in Delhi. Kiran Nadar and her consultants could not provide sustainable proof for disputing the expertise of the country’s pioneer multi-category auction house Bid & Hammer, promoted by the Dadha Group of companies that recently celebrated 100 years of existence.

The problem began when Mrs Nadar paid 50% of the total she owed to B&H and had asked for an extended timeline of 30 days to make the remaining payment. However, at the end of this credit period when reminded to pay the balance amount she disputed the authenticity of the work based on the report of conservators Shreekumar Menon and Priya Khanna and deliquently failed to pay the remaining amount whilst continuing to enjoy possession of the painting. Not only this, as per the argument submitted by B&H’s advocate, in her cross-examination in Bangalore she admitted to the condition of the painting being “jeopardized”. Shocked at the turn of events after having afforded Mrs Nadar every opportunity, prior to the sale, to establish the authenticity & provenance of the painting through its in-house experts and her own consultants, B&H asked Mrs Nadar to abide by the ‘Terms & Conditions of Sale’ given in the auction catalogue as it not only found Menon’s technical report to be faulty and incomplete but his inspection techniques had admittedly resulted in irremediable damage to the painting.   When she refused to abide by the contract B&H was compelled to litigate.

In a counter to B&H’s suit, the counter-affidavit filed by Kiran Nadar’s counsel claimed that “B&H did not possess a license to conduct auctions of National Art Treasures and thus the sale was void”. Dismissing these claims, in what was a centenary year gift to the Dadha’s and a rap on the knucklesfor Mrs Kiran Nadar, the Arbitrator has ordered SKN Investments to pay Bid & Hammer the balance 50% of the total sum of Rs. 1.6 crores plus 12% interest along with arbitrators fees as due, thereby ending a 4 year long legal battle initiated by the auction house against Kiran Nadar. The arbitrator also re-validated the Kerala High Court’s earlier order in which the officials of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), along with advocate Archana Narayanan, were reprimanded for leveling charges against B&H with mala fide abuse of position. The Kerala High Court had decreed that Bid & Hammer had all the mandatory documents to legitimately carry out its auction business.

Through this verdict Bid & Hammer has done what no other auction house has done so far – to walk the talk and prove beyond doubt that it offers only genuine, well-researched works at its auctions and stands by its opinion no matter what the adversity or who the adversary. An extract from Justice Gururajan’s verdict averred, “In the light of my earlier finding that the respondents have failed to prove with regard to fraud or forgery and also in the light of my finding that the evidence of RW-1 (Menon) and his report do not in anyway prove that the subject painting is not authentic, this Tribunal holds that the subject painting is genuine and answers the description in terms of the catalogue. On the facts and in the given circumstances despite a very strong argument by the learned council for the respondents, I am unable to accept the theory of the subject painting being not authentic in terms of the argument placed before be. I reject his argument”.

“This litigation is probably the first of its kind in India, where a dispute in relation to authenticity of art has been brought before the judiciary. Indian art is on its way to becoming a viable asset and therefore should not be maligned by whimsical opinions. Bid  & Hammer put its shoulder to the wheel by proving the authenticity of the painting by Raja Ravi Varma. The award is therefore a triumph for Indian Art”says Ganesh Shivaswamy, the lawyer for Bid & Hammer.

To date Bid & Hammer have never had to withdraw a work from any of their auctions.  Maher Dadha, Chairman & Managing Director commenting on the verdict said,   “Justice has finally been served and we are vindicated. Bid & Hammer has decisively proven that we have always followed the best practices in the authentication process of our auction sale offerings and all the media propaganda in the lead up to our Significant Indian Art auction in Delhi on 27th June 2014 was the handiwork of vested interests ”.

The judicial mechanism has been utilized by Bid & Hammer in order to exonerate the reputation of Ravi Varma and Indian art. Hitherto auction houses and art dealers have been sycophants to buyers, resulting in good art being degraded by whimsical opinions.  Thus Bid & Hammer also refused Kiran Nadar’s repeated requests for an out-of-court settlement. This is a case where genuine art was maligned and if Bid & Hammer had not persevered, a fine painting would have been brandished as a fake.



 The Painting (Ravi Varma's - Jatayu Vadham), The Claimant (Bid & Hammer's CMD Maher Dadha) & The Indicted (Kiran Nadar - wife of HCL founder Shiv Nadar and owner Kiran Nadar Museum)

                                      At the auction venue on 30th November 2010

                           Bid & Hammer's experts with the painting in the background

ABOUT BID & HAMMER: Established in 2007 by Maher Dadha (industrialist, art collector and also publisher of the book ‘Views of India – Art of the British Raj’) and his sons Ankush Dadha & Apoorva Dadha along with Charu Sharma (auctioneer & commentator), HRH Gaj Singh II (Maharaja of Jodhpur and formerly associated with Sothebys India), Rukmini Varma and Savita Apte (Modern & Contemporary Indian Art specialist, formerly Head at Sothebys London) amongst others, Bid & Hammer’s team of directors, advisors & specialists have a wealth of international experience allied to a deep understanding of the complex dynamics of the Indian market.

At a time when the burgeoning Indian auction market was synonymous with Indian paintings, Bid & Hammer started with the objective of developing the Indian art and auction market beyond paintings by introducing the concept of generalist as well as specialist auctions covering not only Modern & Contemporary Art but also Company School Paintings & Drawings, Miniatures, Jewellery, English & Indian Silver, Antique Swords & Daggers, Period Furniture, Antiquarian Books, Maps, Prints & Photographs (ABMPP), Carpets, Rugs, Tapestries, Cricket Memorabilia and a host of other Decorative Works of Art & Collectibles – a first for any auction house in India!

In
sync with the Founder Chairman & Managing Director Maher Dadha’s vision, Bid & Hammer has established itself as India’s pioneering multi-category auction house and is known to have offered important works by prominent Indian artists such as Raja Ravi Varma, Antonio Xavier Trindade, F N Souza and M F Husain, besides iconic English artists J M W Turner, William Hodges and French illustrator Etienne Drian amongst others. The decorative sections have had works by Rene Lalique, Mappin & Webb, Dan Dailey (Daum) and T Manickam Chetty & Sons to name a few.

Related Posts:
1. Raja Ravi Varma Painting not a Fake: Arbitrator
2. Varma 120-yr-old work deemed genuine
3. Kiran Nadar to pay up Rs 1.6cr for Ravi Varma painting
4. Bid & Hammer wins landmark lawsuit
5. Auction House Successful in Recovery Suit Against Kiran Nadar Museum of Art Founder
6. Bid & Hammer wins historic recovery suit against HCL founder's wife Kiran Nadar's 'fake art'    
    propaganda
7. Ravi Varma painting not fake: K'taka HC appointed arbitrator