MUMBAI: Granting no relief to the son of Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam accused Nirav Modi , who approached court at the “11th hour”, Bombay high court on Wednesday refused to stay an Enforcement Directorate (ED) auction of paintings belonging to Rohin Trust.The court, however, directed ED to place the auction proceeds into a separate account, and not use it for any other purpose.A bench of acting Chief Justice B P Dharmadhikari and Justice N Borkar observed, “We find that the petition doesn’t contain any averments to justify the approach to this court at the 11th hour.’’ Diamantaire Nirav Modi is facing a case under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) for allegedly defrauding PNB of Rs 7,000 crore.His son, Rohin, petitioned HC to challenge as “illegal, arbitrary and excessive” the 2018 attachment of a triplex penthouse, Samudra Mahal, in Worli, and a September 2019 order by a special PMLA court for auction of valuable paintings belonging to the trust. The 15 paintings include rare works by M F Husain and Manjit Bawa . He approached HC after Supreme Court was not inclined to entertain his plea last week.He challenged the constitutional validity of the newly-amended provisions of PMLA section 3, which dispenses with intent and knowledge of possession of tainted money to establish possession of proceeds of crime and enabling their attachment from hands of third parties. Rohin’s sought a stay on the auction, arguing that the paintings purchased from trust funds in 2006 cannot be proceeds of crime which allegedly took place in 2011.ED counsel H S Venegaokar said the paintings will be auctioned live on March 5 in Mumbai. HC observed that though he turned 18 last May, he affirmed his affidavit last month, with no attempt to justify the “late approach” to court. Rohin had affirmed his affidavit for his petition in New York on February 26, his petition showed.Rohin contended that he resides in US and was unaware of the proposed auction till January 21, when he read news that ED had sought to auction movable assets, particularly paintings, alleging that they belong to Nirav and firms he controls. Rohin’s plea said ED never intimated him about the attachment or auction, so he never approached any court earlier. HC said it would hear the matter next on March 23, as the affidavit would have to be filed by ED.