Trafficking in Antiquities—India

Joining Italy, Greece, Morocco, France, and Turkey, India has now announced that it “will shortly launch a national mission in antiquities and monuments as part of the efforts to deal effectively with illicit trafficking in cultural property.”^[1] The news came as part of a “two-day national symposium on ‘Prevention of illicit trafficking of cultural property’” organized by the Archaeological Survey of India and UNESCO.^[2]

While there currently are laws and agencies that cover the smuggling of cultural property, Culture Secretary Neena Ranjan said that there was still much to be done.^[3] This includes strengthening communication channels, and building “awareness through a series of measures, including … interaction with the Department of Education to introduce inputs in the school and university curriculum.”^[4]

The proposed legislation would amend the Antiquities and Art Treasure Act of 1972, which currently is plagued with loopholes and is considered far from stringent.^[5] The law as it stands now “extends to the whole of India”^[6] and defines antiquities as

• any coin, sculpture, painting, epigraph or other work of art of craftsmanship;
• any articles, object or thing detached from a building or cave;
• any article, object or thing illustrative of science, art, crafts, literature, religion, customs, morals or politics in by gone ages;
• any article, object or thing of historical interest;
• any article, object or thing declared by the Central Government, by notification in the Official Gazette, to be an antiquity for the purposes of this Act,
  
  • which has been in existence for not less than one hundred years; and
• any manuscript, record or other document which is of scientific historical, literary or aesthetic value and which has been in existence for not less than seventy-five years.^[7]

The Act makes it a crime for a person “other than the Central Government or any authority or agency authorized by the Central Government in its behalf, to export any antiquity or art treasure.”^[8] However, any person wishing to carry on the business of selling antiquities may apply for a license to sell them.^[9]

The punishment for selling antiquities without authority is imprisonment from six months to three years, and potentially a fine.^[10]

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[1] Mission to Curb Trafficking in Antiquities, The Hindu, Feb. 24, 2006.
[2] Id.
[3] Id.
[4] Id.
[5] Nat. Mission on Antiquity to be Launched Next Month, The Hindu, Feb. 23, 2004.
[6] Antiquities and Art Treasures Act of 1972, No. 52, § 1(2).
[7] Id. § 2(a).
[8] Id. § 3(1).
[9] Id. § 7(1).
[10] Id. § 25(1).