Buying an antiquity in India turns on the seller's licence, registration where notified and the bar on private export, and a defect in any of them can cost the buyer the object

On our reading of section 2(1)(a) of the Antiquities and Art Treasures Act, 1972 (the Act), a work of art or craftsmanship becomes an antiquity once it has been in existence for not less than one hundred years, and a manuscript or record of scientific, historical, literary or aesthetic value becomes one at seventy-five years. Section 3 bars its export by anyone other than the Central Government or an authority it authorises. A business of selling it needs a licence under section 5, an object in a category the Central Government notifies under section 14 must be registered within fifteen days of coming into a person's ownership, control or possession, and section 19 lets the Central Government acquire it compulsorily for a public place. An export or attempted export in breach of section 3 carries imprisonment of six months to three years and a fine under section 25(1), and a breach of the licensing or registration sections carries up to six months, a fine or both, and makes the object liable to confiscation.

What counts as an antiquity, and what counts as an art treasure?

Section 2(1)(a) says an antiquity includes any coin, sculpture, painting, epigraph or other work of art or craftsmanship, any article detached from a building or cave, any article illustrative of the arts, sciences, religion, customs or politics of bygone ages, any article of historical interest, and any article the Central Government declares by notification to be an antiquity. The words "not less than one hundred years" stand at the end of that list, in the head for declared articles. Read alone, they qualify only declared articles. Read with the structure of clause (I), set against the separate seventy-five-year line in clause (II), they set the age condition for every head of clause (I). Our position is the second reading, which is also how the hundred-year line is generally applied, but the clause as printed does not say so in terms.

An art treasure is a human work of art, not being an antiquity, that the Central Government has declared by notification to be one, having regard to its artistic or aesthetic value (section 2(1)(b)). The proviso bars a declaration while the author is alive. The Antiquities and Art Treasures Rules, 1973 (the Rules) add an expert committee under rule 2A and a notice for the author under rule 2B.

Where the status of an object is in doubt, section 24 refers the question to the Director General of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), or to an officer of Director rank or above whom the Director General authorises, and makes the decision final.

Who may export, and what follows at the port?

Section 3(1) makes it unlawful for anyone other than the Central Government, or an authority or agency it authorises, to export an antiquity or art treasure; "export" means taking out of India to a place outside India (section 2(1)(c)). Rule 3 names the Director General of the ASI as the authority issuing the permit under section 3(2). The bar does not turn on title: an owner with a perfect title still cannot export.

Section 4 applies the Customs Act, 1962 to every such article. Section 113(d) of that Act makes goods attempted to be exported contrary to a prohibition under any law liable to confiscation, and section 114(i) makes the person who does so, or abets it, liable to a penalty not exceeding three times the value declared by the exporter or the value determined under that Act, whichever is greater. Section 125(1) would ordinarily let the adjudicating officer offer a fine in lieu of confiscation, not exceeding the market price, but section 4 of the Act requires confiscation despite section 125 unless the Central Government, on an application, directs otherwise.

Who may sell, and what does a licence show?

Section 5 forbids anyone from carrying on the business of selling or offering to sell an antiquity except under a licence granted under section 8.

The licensing officer weighs the applicant's experience, the place of business, the number of dealers already there and, under rule 5, bona fide intention. Under rule 5(2) a licence is valid for two years from issue and may be extended by one year on an application made at least two months before expiry, if the licensee has filed its returns, kept its records and met its conditions; rule 7 separately allows renewal for two years at a time. Rules 6 and 8 require a monthly return in Form III, a register in Form IV and photograph albums, which section 10 opens to inspection, and section 11 permits revocation or suspension. A licence shows that the seller may trade. It does not show that a given object was lawfully acquired.

What must a holder register, and what happens on a transfer?

Section 14(1) lets the Central Government specify by notification the antiquities that must be registered, and the duty to register reaches only the classes it specifies. Under section 14(3) the person who owns, controls or possesses one must register it and obtain a certificate: within three months of the notification if he holds it on that date, and otherwise within fifteen days of coming into ownership, control or possession. The application goes in Form VII (rule 11), with photographs where the class is specified under section 16(2), and the certificate is in Form VIII (rule 12). Section 17 and rule 13 require a person who transfers an antiquity of a notified class to intimate the transfer in Form IX, completed in triplicate at the time of transfer and reaching the registering officer and the Director General within ten days; the duty rests on the seller or giver, and otherwise on the new owner.

The fifteen days run from the date the buyer comes into ownership, control or possession, whichever is first, so they can start at the contract rather than at delivery, and the duty falls on "any other person", which covers a buyer as much as a collector.

Can the Government take the object?

Under section 19(1) the Central Government may order compulsory acquisition where it considers it desirable to preserve an antiquity or art treasure in a public place; objects used for bona fide religious observances are excluded (section 19(7)). The Collector may take possession; the owner may object within thirty days, and on confirmation the object vests in the Government from the date of possession. Section 20 fixes compensation by agreement or by an arbitrator.

What do sections 25 to 28 reach?

Section 25(1) punishes an export or attempted export in contravention of section 3 with imprisonment of not less than six months and up to three years, and a fine, without prejudice to the Customs Act. Section 25(2) punishes a contravention of section 5, 12, 13(2) or (3), 14 or 17 with imprisonment up to six months, a fine or both, and makes the antiquity "liable to confiscation".

A prosecution under section 25(1) needs sanction, and rule 15 names the Director General of the ASI. Cognizance of an offence under section 25(2) or (3) needs a written complaint from an authorised officer. Sections 23 and 27 still name the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898, and section 20(1)(g) the Arbitration Act, 1940; section 8 of the General Clauses Act, 1897 carries those references to the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 and the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. Section 28 deems every person in charge of a company, including a firm, guilty alongside it, unless he proves the offence was committed without his knowledge or that he exercised all due diligence.

Illustration: a 1910 bronze bought from a dealer (hypothetical)

This is a constructed example, not a case. A technology company buys a bronze figure cast in 1910 from a dealer for INR 40 lakh on Monday 9 November 2026, when ownership and delivery both pass, to display in its Indian headquarters.

Age. The bronze is 116 years old and, on our reading, passed one hundred years in 2010. As a sculpture it falls within section 2(1)(a)(I)(i).

Licence. The dealer's licence was issued on 1 April 2025, so under rule 5(2) it runs to the end of March 2027 and the sale falls inside the term.

Registration. If the bronze is in a category notified under section 14(1), the company must register it within fifteen days of 9 November 2026, which is by Tuesday 24 November 2026, and the dealer must intimate the transfer under section 17.

Export. Suppose the company later ships the bronze to a Singapore office, declaring it at INR 5 lakh. That is an attempted export in contravention of section 3. Section 25(1) carries six months to three years and a fine. The penalty under section 114(i) of the Customs Act can reach three times the greater of INR 5 lakh declared and the value determined under that Act; taking that value as the INR 40 lakh paid (an illustrative assumption), the cap is INR 1.2 crore. Section 4 of the Act requires confiscation unless the Central Government, on an application, directs otherwise; only then could a fine in lieu arise, capped at the market price, taken here as INR 40 lakh.

Defective provenance. Suppose the dealer's licence had been revoked before the sale; section 12 lets a revoked dealer sell only to another licensee. The dealer contravenes section 5, and section 25(2) makes the bronze itself liable to confiscation, so the loss can fall on the object in the company's hands. A failure to register in time is a separate section 14 offence, for which section 28 makes the officers in charge answer unless they prove due diligence.

What does a title and provenance enquiry therefore have to cover?

The Act does not make a sale void. It attaches consequences to the object and to each step in its handling. Status turns on age, kind and any section 24 decision. The dealer's licence and register entry show only that the seller may trade. Registration matters only for a notified class, and then the certificate and the seller's Form IX are the record. Any past departure from India is unlawful under section 3, whatever the title, and an acquisition order under section 19 or a seizure under section 23 overrides the sale.

What remains unsettled?

Whether the hundred-year condition in section 2(1)(a) also governs heads (i) to (iv) is not stated in terms; our reading is set out above.

Whether one resale by a private holder is "the business of selling" under section 5 is not defined. Rule 13 names the transferor's registering officer twice, and leaves it unclear whether the transferee's officer is also meant to receive Form IX.