Antiquities and Art Treasures Act, 1972

The appellant Department of Customs appealed against the discharge of Sharad Gandhi, who was accused of attempting to export a sand‑stone Buddha head classified as an antiquity. The prosecution relied on Sections 132 and 135(1)(a) of the Customs Act, 1962 for false declaration and fraudulent evasion of a prohibition. T…

The appellants, two fine‑art auctioneers, auctioned two paintings that were later seized by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) as antiques. The CBI, relying on the ASI report, registered an FIR under IPC s.120B and the Antiquities and Art Treasures Act, 1972 s.25(1) read with s.3, and filed a charge‑sheet. The ap…

The petitioner filed a public‑interest writ under Article 32 seeking directions for adequate security and investigation of thefts of historic artefacts from several Indian museums, including the Viswabharati University museum, Asiatic Society, Nandan Art Gallery and Victoria Memorial. The Union of India and various mus…