Century-old stamps, stamp papers, envelopes are 'antiquities' under Antiquities and Art Treasures Act: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has held that philatelic exhibits like stamps, stamp papers and envelopes of more than a century‘s vintage are “antiquities” within the meaning of the Antiquities and Art Treasures Act, 1972 [Ajay Kumar Mittal v UOI & Ors]. .Single-judge Justice C Hari Shankar said that philatelic exhibits are antiquities both within the meaning of Section 2(1)(a)(I)(iv) of the Act as well as Section 2(1)(a)(II)..While the first provision defines as antiquity any "article, object or things of historical interest", the latter section says that “any manuscript, record or other documents which is of scientific, historical, literary or aesthetic value and which has been in existence for not less than 75 years” will be included in the definition."Philatelic exhibits, of near or more than a century‘s vintage, in my opinion, are clearly objects of antiquarian or historical interest or significance," the Court said..In his judgement, Justice Hari Shankar observed that the very fact that international exhibitions are held for such connoisseurs of the art (philatelists), clearly showed that philatelic exhibits are of great value.“The historical importance of such exhibits cannot, either, be undermined in any manner. They are an indispensable indicia of the times in which they were issued, and the manner in which transactions were transacted at that time. The very paper on which such exhibits are printed has its own fascination, for the discerning aficionado. Such philatelic exhibits are, therefore, obviously articles, objections or things of historical interest. In fact, though a select group of collectors may take the trouble to collect such exhibits, their inherent and intrinsic historical value far transcends the covers of the albums that such collectors may maintain,” the Court said..Justice Hari Shankar further said that given the amplitude of the expressions “record” and “other document” as employed in Section 2(1)(a)(II), it is possible to hold that stamps, stamp papers, envelopes and other such material, if they contain information, hand-written or otherwise, come within the ambit of the expression “manuscript, record or other document”..The Court was dealing with a petition filed by a philatelist and a member of the Philatelic Congress of India (PCI), Federation of International Asian Philately (FIAP) and the Federation of International Philately (FIP).It was stated that the petitioner had been appointed National Commissioner for representing India at international philatelic events several time and that for the past several years, the Department of Posts (DoP) and Department of Culture (DOC) were granting clearance to him to participate and export philatelic exhibits to various exhibitions.However, as he tried to travel to Israel to take part in the World Stamp Championship 2008, the DoC did not provide him a No Objection Certificate but informed him that a detailed and exhaustive procedure needs to be followed before antiquities or art exhibits could be exported abroad as per the 1999 guidelines..The petitioner, therefore, moved the Court seeking a declaration that the philatelic material which are more than 75 to100 years old are not 'Art Objects' or 'Antiquity' under the definition in Sections 2 (1)(a) & (b) of the Act.He argued that if carriage of philatelic exhibits abroad, for participation in such exhibitions, is to be subjected to the rigour of the 1999 guidelines and the provisions of the AATA, participation in such exhibitions would become a near impossibility, and would also disincentivize, to a large degree, philatelists from pursuing their hobby, which has an international following..After considering the arguments, the bench not only concluded that philatelic exhibits are antiquities but even denied the relief sought by petitioner to simplify the procedure for grant of NOC and Temporary Export Permit (TEP) for export of philatelic exhibits by resorting to a one window procedure.Justice Hari Shankar said that it is entirely a matter of administrative discretion, and the Court, in exercise of its jurisdiction under Article 226, cannot direct framing of any such guidelines..“The demographics of export of antiquities and art treasures may involve several competing considerations and a ratiocination of issues which this Court lacks the expertise to deliberate upon,” the Court said.The Court can only permit the petitioner to represent to the respondent for simplification of the procedure for obtaining NOC from the DOP, the DOC and obtaining a TEP from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), for export of philatelic exhibits, the judge added..Advocates Sunil K Mittal and Kshitij Mittal appeared for the petitioner. Central Government Standing Counsel Vikram Jetly and advocate Shreya Jetly appeared for the respondents. .[Read Judgment]