Antiquities Laws in India
Present circumstances:
- The International Consortium of Investigative recently found that Subhash Kapoor, who is currently serving a 10-year prison sentence in Tamil Nadu for smuggling antiquities, is connected to at least 77 items in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, catalogue.
- Any coin, artwork, sculpture, painting, epigraph, or other work of art or craftsmanship; any article, object, or thing removed from a structure or cave; any article, object, or thing depicting politics, religion, science, the arts, or crafts; any article, object, or thing of historical interest; and any article, object, or thing of historical interest that “has been around for at least that long.
- For “manuscript, record, or other document which is of scientific, historical, literary, or artistic importance,” this time frame is “not less than seventy-five years.”
What are the laws governing international agreements?
- According to the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export, and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property, items designated by nations as having “importance for archaeology, prehistory, history, literature, art, or science” are referred to as cultural property.
- According to the Declaration, one of the best ways to safeguard each country’s cultural assets is through international cooperation, and “illegal import, export, and transfer of ownership of cultural property is one of the main causes of the impoverishment of the cultural heritage of the countries of origin of such property.”
- The UN General Assembly in 2000 and UN Security Council in 2015 and 2016 have expressed concern over the issue in an effort to protect it.
- In 2019, an INTERPOL assessment stated that “the unlawful international traffic of cultural objects and related offences is regrettably more frequent” over 50 years after the UNESCO pact.
What are India’s laws?
- Item-67 of the Union List, Item-12 of the State List, and Item 40 of the Concurrent List of the Constitution all address India’s legacy.
- In order to prevent “any antiquities from being exported without authorization,” the Antiquities (Export Control) Act was passed in April 1947.
- 1958 saw the passage of the Act Preserving Ancient Monuments, Sites, and Remains. Subsequently, in 1971, numerous large sandstone idols from different locales as well as a bronze idol from Chamba were taken, raising a commotion in Parliament.
- The UNESCO agreement and The Antiquities and Art Treasures Act, 1972 (AATA), which entered into effect on April 1, 1976, were both passed by the government as a result of pressure.
The Antiquities and Art Treasures Act of 1972 specifies (AATA),
- “Any person who is not a representative of the Central Government or a body or agency that has been designated by the Central Government in this regard is not entitled to export any antiquities or works of art. Anybody who does not act in accordance with the terms and conditions of a licence, whether on their own behalf or through a third party, is not permitted to engage in the business of offering or selling any antiquities.
What establishes ownership?
- According to the 1970 UNESCO declaration, the requesting Party shall provide, at its expense, the documentation and other proof required to support its claim for recovery and return.
- The first document that must be submitted in order to prove ownership is the police complaint (FIR). The difficulty with lost antiques in India is that there is typically no FIR. Yet, other supporting information also exists, such as details mentioned in study publications by recognised academics, etc.
How may fake antiquities be identified?
- Anybody who “owns, controls, or is in possession of any antiquity” must register it with the registering officer, according to sectio14(3) of the AATA, “and get a certificate in token of such registration.”
- The National Mission on Monuments and Antiquities, founded in March 2007, has so far registered 3.52 lakh antiquities out of the 16.70 lakh that it has recorded in an effort to “actively curtail” illegal activity.
- This is a very small portion of the nation’s whole collection of antiquities, which the government estimates to be somewhere in the neighbourhood of 58 lakh pieces, according to a declaration made in Parliament by the Ministry of Culture in July 2022.
Can India bring artefacts home?
- Artefacts removed from India before independence, those removed from the country after independence up to March 1976, or before the adoption of AATA, and artefacts removed from the country after April 1976, are the three categories to be aware of.
- Requests must be made bilaterally or through international forums for the first two categories. For instance, the Maharashtra government said on November 10, 2022 that it was making an effort to return the sword of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj from London.
- Shivaji IV handed this sword to Edward, the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) in 1875-1876.
- Several historical artefacts, like Vagdevi of Dhar (MP), the Kohinoor diamond, the Amaravati marbles, the Sultanganj Buddha, and artefacts associated with Rani Laxmibai and Tipu Sultan, are currently on display abroad.
- By raising a concern bilaterally with ownership paperwork and with the assistance of the UNESCO convention, it is simple to recover artefacts in the second and third categories.
Conclusion:
- A country’s rich cultural history and heritage are represented by its antiquities, which should be protected by domestic legislation and international cooperation.
- Along with other nations, they must advocate for the interchange of these special artefacts on a worldwide scale in order to explain historical literature, art, and national aesthetic appeal.
