Mon Jun 02 10:53:09 UTC 2025: **Summary:**
25 rare paintings by the late Indian modernist painter M.F. Husain will be auctioned on June 12th in Mumbai, following a Bombay High Court order. These paintings were secured by NAFED as part of the proceeds from a loan default case involving industrialist Guru Swarup Srivastava of the Swarup Group of Industries. The paintings, part of the “Our Planet Called Earth” series, were valued at ₹25 crore last year. The auction is being conducted to recover funds from a ₹236 crore loan dispute, which also led to a CBI investigation into alleged misappropriation by Srivastava.
**News Article:**
**Rare M.F. Husain Paintings to be Auctioned in Mumbai to Recover Loan Default Funds**
**Mumbai, India – June 2, 2025** – Twenty-five rare paintings by renowned Indian modernist painter M.F. Husain are set to go under the hammer on June 12th in Mumbai, following an order from the Bombay High Court. The auction, titled “M.F. Husain: An Artist’s Vision of the XX Century,” features works from Husain’s “Our Planet Called Earth” (OPCE) series.
The paintings were secured by the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED) as part of the recovery efforts related to a ₹236 crore loan dispute with industrialist Guru Swarup Srivastava’s Swarup Group of Industries. Srivastava, who gained attention in 2007 for commissioning 100 paintings from Husain at ₹1 crore each, is at the center of the financial controversy.
Last year, an art specialist valued the collection at ₹25 crore. The auction, managed by the Sheriff of Mumbai through Pundole Art Gallery, will take place at Hamilton House in south Mumbai.
The Bombay High Court has directed the Sheriff of Mumbai to file a report on the auction by July 3rd, after which final directions for the handover of the artworks will be issued.
The case also involves a CBI investigation initiated in 2006 into the Swarup Group and Srivastava for alleged misappropriation of ₹150 crore from the NAFED loans. In 2008, a tribunal permitted NAFED to secure assets worth ₹100 crore, including these Husain paintings. The upcoming auction marks a significant step in the ongoing efforts to recover funds from the loan default.
First Piper 