The Victoria Memorial Hall, Kolkata’s landmark destination and a repository of rare paintings, is under a cloud following prima facie evidence of a well-networked syndicate that seemed to have traded in fake art works.A probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) suggests that many of the art works that adorn the walls of the Hall may be fake. And that some of the genuine works were bought at prices much above their market rates.Under the CBI scanner is the chief executive and curator of the Victoria Memorial Hall, Professor Chittoranjan Panda whose office was raided twice in the last two weeks. The CBI has questioned him, Accounts Officer Prafulla Sarkar and several others and has intimated Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi, the chairman of the Victoria Memorial Hall, and the Union Ministry of Culture.The Memorial was built after the death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 by Lord Curzon, then the Viceroy of India. The Hall was opened in 1921 with a rare repository of painting and artifacts. Every year, the Victoria Memorial Hall authorities upgrade its collection by adding masterpieces of great painters through yearly purchases from art dealers. There is an Art Purchase Committee (APC) to decide on this. But the CBI has found that the APC under curator Panda did not put up advertisements for purchase, a mandatory requirement. Neither did he invite any sealed quotation or tender, also a pre-requisite to such purchases.The CBI found that purchases were made to the tune of around Rs 2 crore every year but without proper verification and authentication of the so-called masterpieces. These were bought as “originals.” To give the entire procedure a stamp of authenticity, opinion was sought from the APC to the effect that the “artifacts appear to be genuine” and “the price appears to be reasonable.” The CBI found that many of these purchased items were not authenticated by any government agency, yet another mandatory requirement, before making payments to dealers. Some of the APC minutes (2006-7) in possession of The Sunday Express showed that there are even instances when even the APC members were not unanimous about the genuineness of the items. Yet, the purchases were made. Among the recent purchases are Lady in Yellow, a water colour by Rabindranath Tagore, 22 sketches by David Wilkie, 1840 and a landscape by Jamini Roy.The CBI has gathered evidence that in gross violation of the rules, private parties and art dealers were allowed to be present in the APC meetings. “They were given illegitimate access to such meetings,” said a CBI official. The CBI has found that Panda’s wife Nandini Panda was involved in deals with dealers. The prices of artifacts and paintings were hiked before they are placed before the APC, said CBI sources. Dealers, CBI sources say, had to pay 20 per cent commission. The CBI is also investigating the case of missing paintings from the Hall. They believe some of them were taken out and were re-purchased.When contacted, Professor Panda said, “Since a CBI probe is on. I will not like to comment. This is a conspiracy against me and my wife. Renowned personalities are members of the Art Purchase Committee who decide on the originality of an item. I thought that was authentication enough. The CBI officers visited my office and I am co-operating with them.” Jogen Choudhury, painter and a member of the APC, said: “This is a sensitive case. I will not like to comment,” The CBI also found that the VMH authority gave out as much as Rs 70 lakh in 2005-7 to NGOs promoting arts and culture which the investigators believe were close to Nandini Panda. The trustees and the finance committee were not told about the grants. “The grants were unauthorised and arbitrary,” said a CBI official.Nandini Panda said, “The allegations against me are baseless. I do not meddle in Victoria’s affairs. I know some dealers, but never talked with them regarding Victoria. I visit Victoria because I am an author and an expert in Sanskrit. This is a conspiracy against my husband.” The CBI is also probing a foreign bank account in London in the name of Panda’s mother-in-law. “I will make no comment on the foreign account. But I have not given money to NGOs. Financial grants were provided whenever there was a collaborative project between the NGOs and the Victoria Memorial,” Panda added.
