Chandigarh: A fresh heritage row has erupted after a pair of iconic chairs and four low stools from Punjab’s MLA Hostel in Sector 4, Chandigarh, were auctioned in Chicago, United States, on June 4 for a combined $72,720, amounting to over ₹59 lakh.
According to a report by The Tribune, the pair of heritage chairs alone fetched $44,800, approximately ₹37.4 lakh. However, the final auction figures cited for the items indicate that the chairs were sold for over ₹42 lakh, while the set of four stools fetched more than ₹17 lakh. For furniture once meant for public institutions, the price tag has now become less about design glamour and more about a very uncomfortable question: how did it leave India in the first place?
The auction has raised serious concerns over the preservation and protection of heritage assets linked to Punjab’s legislative institutions. The items are believed to be part of Chandigarh’s famed Capitol Project, associated with the city’s post-Independence architectural vision and the works of Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret.
The matter was flagged by Ajay Jagga, a member of the Heritage Protection Cell, Chandigarh. In a letter to Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and Vidhan Sabha Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan, Jagga urged the state government to ascertain who authorised the sale of the items and whether mandatory permissions were obtained before they reached a foreign auction house.
The Heritage Protection Cell, headed by the UT Chief Secretary, was created by the Chandigarh Administration to prepare an inventory, trace and prevent illicit trafficking of Chandigarh’s iconic mid-century modern heritage furniture.
The items were auctioned by US-based auction house Wright. A photograph of the sold chairs uploaded on the auction house website reportedly carries the inventory marking “MLA (H) PB/1/B-11”, linking them to the Punjab MLA Hostel.
Punjab Vidhan Sabha Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan said the issue would be examined. “However, I haven’t received any such complaint,” he said.
Jagga has argued that the auction violated Article 49 of the Constitution, which places a responsibility on the State to protect monuments, places and objects of national importance. He said the development has once again highlighted gaps in the cataloguing, security and preservation of heritage items connected with the Punjab Vidhan Sabha and the MLA Hostel.
This is not the first such instance. In October 2021, two tables belonging to the Punjab Vidhan Sabha were auctioned in the US for $17,849, approximately ₹13.36 lakh. Jagga claimed he had raised the issue with the then Speaker as well.
His latest letter also invokes Article 51 of the Constitution and India’s commitments under the 1972 UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage. Jagga said a nationalist government must act as a trustee of the nation’s heritage and safeguard public assets that form part of India’s post-Independence architectural legacy.
“The illegal auction of heritage furniture items designed by architects Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret in various countries has been repeatedly discussed in different meetings,” Jagga said.
The controversy has returned focus to the long-standing problem of Chandigarh’s heritage furniture appearing in international auctions. These pieces, once part of government offices, hostels and institutions, have acquired immense value in global design markets. Unfortunately, many of them seem to have travelled abroad more smoothly than a government file moving between departments.
Last year, the Chandigarh Administration had written to several UT departments, as well as departments of Punjab and Haryana, asking them to provide a fresh list of heritage items with updated records.
With the latest auction now triggering political and administrative concern, the key question remains whether Punjab can trace the movement of these items, fix accountability and prevent more public heritage from becoming private luxury décor abroad.
