Gandhi glasses sell for $2.77m

AN auction house has sold Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi's iconic round glasses and other memorabilia for $US1.8 million ($A2.77 million), defying an order to cancel the sale by the items' owner.
Tony Bedi, bidding on behalf of billionaire Vijay Mallya, said the purchase meant that the revered independence leader's glasses, sandals, pocket watch, and plate and bowl would now return to India.

"Basically he was bidding for the country," Mr Bedi said after the dramatic auction at Antiquorum Auctioneers in New York.

Cheers and clapping broke out when the hammer came down. Indian businessmen and others with links to the country packed the auction room, joining frenzied bidding to ensure that the memorabilia did not go to another country.

However, Mr Mallya's patriotic gesture raised complex legal questions and it was unclear when, or even if the items can be sent to India.

Minutes before the auction the man who says he is the current owner, California-based collector James Otis, declared that he wanted the sale cancelled and the belongings given back to him.

"In the last few hours, I have decided, in the light of the controversy, not to sell Gandhi's personal items," Mr Otis said.

After learning of the auction winner's intention to return the items to India, Mr Otis dropped his objection to the sale.

India had bitterly opposed the auction from the start, insisting that Gandhi's belongings were part of the country's national heritage