James Otis hires new lawyer

James Otis, who owned Mahatma Gandhi’s personal belongings before liquor baron Vijay Mallya bought them during an auction in New York on March 5, has appointed a new attorney to represent him.

Otis now wants the five items back. Mallya purchased them for $1.8 million. Otis’s former attorney Ravi Batra said on Friday he was writing to the auctioneers. But he issued a statement on Monday, saying he had resigned as Otis’s attorney, a job he took up on March 5. However, he declined to give a reason, citing attorney-client confidentiality.

“I have enjoyed assisting James in navigating the legal issues,” he said.

Otis said he was now being represented by Thomas Kissane who will contact the attorney general’s office in New York. The items are still lying with the auctioneers to enable the justice department to give a ruling on the legal issues involved as the Delhi high court had stayed the auction.

The stay was granted by the court on the basis of a petition by Navjeevan Trust contending that it was the custodian all Gandhi's property.