HONG KONG (AP) — A planned auction by Sotheby's of purportedly Buddha-associated relics was unilaterally postponed on Wednesday following the Indian government's vociferous objection and categorical demand for its immediate cessation.

Discovered in 1898 within reliquaries containing the corporeal vestiges of the historical Buddha at a site in northern India, the gemstones slated for auction, dating from approximately 240-200 BC, were unearthed interred collectively, according to the pronouncement from the auction house.

However, the Indian Ministry of Culture declared via a communiqué on Facebook on Tuesday that it had served a legal injunction upon Sotheby's Hong Kong, mandating an immediate cessation of the sale, alleging that the auction constituted an contravention of "Indian statutes, international protocols, and UN covenants."

In its correspondence to Sotheby’s Hong Kong, disseminated via Facebook on Monday, it asserted that the forthcoming auction encompasses sacrosanct Buddhist artefacts, positing that these items represent the intrinsic religious and cultural patrimony of India and the wider Buddhist populace, consequently demanding their exigent repatriation to the Indian government and a public mea culpa from both the auction house and Mr. Chris Peppé.

Peppé is a lineal descendant in the fourth generation of the British excavating archaeologist William Peppé, who unearthed the relics.

In the missive, the Indian government cautioned that any non-compliance would precipitate judicial proceedings and orchestrated public relations initiatives designed to underscore the auction house's complicity in the perpetuation of colonial inequity and its engagement as an accessory to the morally reprehensible disposition of religious artefacts.

Sotheby's disseminated a formal declaration on Wednesday, conveying the deferral of the aforementioned event and conceding the pertinence of the concerns posited by the Indian governmental authorities, further asserting that this action was undertaken in concert with the concurrence of the consigning parties.

“This will facilitate interlocutory exchanges between the parties, and we anticipate disseminating any updates as warranted,” it stated.

As of Wednesday, several Sotheby's web pages pertaining to the auction were no longer retrievable.

The Indian Ministry of Culture, through a Facebook communiqué issued on Wednesday, conveyed its profound satisfaction regarding the auction's deferral, a direct consequence of its decisive intervention.