Acting on the orders of a court in Hardwar, police in Mumbai have begun the process of attaching the property of painter M F Husain in a case related to the depiction of Hindu goddesses in his paintings.

“We pasted the court notice regarding the attachment of the property at Jolly Makers-III in Cuffe Parade yesterday evening,” DCP Brijesh Singh said.

The court of Special Judicial Magistrate K S Shukla in Hardwar ordered the police to attach Husain’s property after he repeatedly failed to respond to summons to appear before it, including at the last hearing of the matter on April 13. Singh said police in Mumbai were only implementing orders issued by the court in Hardwar. It will write to the Mumbai Collector to ascertain whether he owns any other properties within the city limits, Singh said.

Advocate Arvind Shrivastava filed a case against the painter for accusing him of depicting Hindu goddesses in an obscene manner in the Hardwar district court in March 2006. The case was transferred nine months later to the court of Magistrate Shukla, who issued a bailable warrant against the artist on January 2.