3 min readNew DelhiJan 22, 2025 01:04 AM IST
First published on: Jan 21, 2025 at 04:27 PM IST
A Delhi court has ordered the seizure of two M F Husain paintings displayed at the DAG, formerly Delhi Art Gallery, following a complaint from an advocate who called them “offensive”.
Judicial Magistrate First Class Sahil Monga of the Patiala House Courts, in his order Monday, said, “At this stage, an application… has been moved by the complainant for direction to the IO (Investigating Officer) to seize the painting in question. In light of the facts and circumstances mentioned in the said application, the said application is allowed and the IO is directed to seize the said painting and file a report on 22.01.2025.”
The complainant in the matter is advocate Amita Sachdeva who practises at Delhi High Court.
“On 04.12.2024, I clicked photos of offensive paintings displayed at DAG World at 22A, Windsor Place, Connaught Place, New Delhi, and filed a complaint on 09.12.2024 at Parliament Street police station after researching past FIRs against M F Husain. However, during a visit with the IO on 10.12.2024, the paintings were removed and falsely claimed they were never displayed,” Sachdeva said.
In his order, Judge Monga said, “As per the ATR, the IO has already seized CCTV footage and the NVR (Network Video Recorder) of Delhi Art Gallery. It is further stated in the ATR that a list of paintings was provided by Delhi Art Gallery in which the paintings in question are mentioned at Serial No. 6 and 10. It is further stated in the inquiry report that the exhibition was held in a private space and the said paintings were only to display the original work of authors/artists.”
Last month, Sachdeva also asked the court to preserve the CCTV footage from the art gallery for December 4 and December 6-10 when the exhibition displayed Husain’s paintings.
On January 4, Judge Monga said that a report had been filed by the investigating officer stating that the CCTV footage from the said dates had been preserved and filed along with the report.
In a statement Tuesday, the DAG said: “Pending an enquiry into a few select works of M F Husain at a recent exhibition, DAG is reviewing the situation and seeking counsel. We are not party to any court proceedings so far, and are trying to follow the developments. We will come back to you as soon as we have an update on the issues at hand.”
Established in 1993, the DAG is home to the largest collection of premodern and modern Indian art spanning the 18th to 20th centuries.
The complainant posted MF Husain's paintings of Hindu deities Hanuman and Ganesh on their X account. (Express File Photo/Representative) 
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