HONG KONG (AP) — Sotheby’s precipitately deferred a projected auction of purportedly Buddha-related relics following a forceful interdiction and demand for cessation from the Indian government.

The auction house stated that the gems slated for auction were unearthed in northern India in 1898, interred collectively within reliquaries alongside the corporeal vestiges of the historical Buddha, and that their provenance was estimated to circa 240-200 BC.

However, the Indian Ministry of Culture, through a statement disseminated via Facebook on Tuesday, declared the issuance of a formal legal missive to Sotheby’s Hong Kong, peremptorily demanding the cessation of the impending auction, contending that the sale contravened "statutes of the Republic of India, prevailing international conventions, and United Nations protocols."

In its missive to Sotheby’s Hong Kong, disseminated via a Facebook posting on the stated Monday, it articulated the auction's entanglement with sacrosanct Buddhist artefacts, positing these as inalienable components of the religious and cultural patrimony of both the Indian nation and the global Buddhist confraternity. It further stipulated the mandatory repatriation of these relics to the Indian authorities and the issuance of a public mea culpa from both the auction house and Chris Peppé.

Peppé traces his lineage to the esteemed British archaeologist, William Peppé, whose seminal excavation of the relics garnered him widespread recognition.

The Indian government, through a formal missive, stipulated that non-compliance would precipitate legal proceedings and concerted public advocacy initiatives spotlighting the auction house's complicity "in the perpetuation of colonial inequities and its role as an accessory to the unconscionable sale of religious artefacts."

Sotheby's, in a statement issued on Wednesday, declared the postponement, conceding to the concerns articulated by the Indian government and affirming its accord with the consignors.

"This measure is intended to facilitate deliberations among the concerned parties, and we anticipate disseminating any pertinent updates as circumstances dictate," the statement elucidated.

By Wednesday, several of Sotheby's web pages pertaining to the auction had become unavailable.

The Indian Ministry of Culture announced via Facebook on Wednesday its profound gratification that, as a direct consequence of its intercession, the planned auction had been deferred.