Punjab MLA hostel linen chest, electricity board chairs headed for US auction

The auction house has estimated the combined value of these three Punjab-linked lots at USD 19,000-25,000 (around Rs 18.09 lakh to Rs 23.80 lakh). Individually, the PSEB office chair pair has been valued at USD 8,000-10,000, the MLA Hostel linen chest at USD 5,000-7,000, and the desk-and-chair set at USD 6,000-8,000.

The MLA Hostel linen chest has been valued at ,000-7,000. (Special arrangement, enhanced with AI)

Jagga has written to Punjab Vidhan Sabha Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan and Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, urging the state government to intervene and investigate how these government-marked furniture items reached an overseas auction house despite restrictions on the disposal and export of heritage furniture.

He also recalled that in June this year, a pair of chairs from the Punjab MLA Hostel, carrying the inventory marking “M.L.A (H) PB/1/B-11”, was sold at a Chicago auction for USD 44,800 (around Rs 37.4 lakh). In 2021, two Punjab Vidhan Sabha tables were auctioned in the US for about Rs 13.36 lakh.

In his representation, Jagga sought a probe into the origin and export of the furniture and urged the Punjab government to invoke constitutional and legal provisions to safeguard heritage assets linked to the state.