Indian Express: New Delhi: Monday,
May 30, 2016.
The official
stand of the government and the findings of at least two commissions may be
that Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose died in the Taipei plane crash in 1945, but a
book commissioned by the government, which has remained with the Ministry of
Defence’s historical division since 1953, gives the impression that he escaped
alive from the crash.
Despite the
political rush to declassify Netaji files the Centre has so far declassified
175 files and the West Bengal government 64 the MoD has thwarted all means
including RTI applications and court orders to reveal the contents of the book,
A History of the Indian National Army 1942-45, written by historian Praful
Chandra Gupta at the behest of the central government. The last time an attempt
was made to get the views of various ministries on its publication was in 2011.
In a note signed by Gautam Bambawale, joint secretary in the Ministry of
External Affairs, on June 22, 2011, the ministry said publication is unlikely
to impinge on or affect Indian’s relations with any country more than 60 years
later, so there is no objection to the draft volume on that count.
“What is
likely to be more controversial are the pages (186-191) pertaining to the death
of Netaji Bose on a plane crash in Japan. Unfortunately, the current volume
does not bring any finality to this subject and only adds to the view that
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose may have escaped alive from the plane crash. On this
issue, the current volume will not help end the controversy on the subject,”
Bambawale wrote, ending that MEA has no objection from the political angle to
the publication of the book. Before 2011 MEA had last seen the draft in 1953 when the ministry was held by then prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, Bose’s bete
noire in public perception. The book in effect supports the findings of the
Mukherjee Commission that the government rejected about a decade ago.
Since the
crash, two commissions of inquiry, the Shahnawaz Commission and the Khosla
Commission, have ruled Netaji died in Taipei. But the Mukherjee Commission,
whose report was tabled in Parliament in 2006, said that while he may be dead
now, the plane crash is not how he died.
The MEA’s
opinion in 2011 was sought in connection with a case in which MoD had given an
assurance to Delhi High Court that it would publish the volume before end July
2011. That did not happen. In March 2012, a Delhi High Court order dismissed an
appeal of the MoD against an order of the CIC to give a copy of the book under
RTI to Gurgaon resident Chandrachur Ghosh. Ghosh had filed an RTI application
in 2009. MoD argued that it is contemplating publication of the book and hence it
would not be possible to give it to a private individual. The court upheld the
CIC’s view that the information sought does not qualify for RTI exemption under
Section 8(1)(d) of the RTI Act.
“The present
petition is, therefore, dismissed. However, since the petitioner (MoD) has
stated that it intends to publish the said manuscript, the copy of the original
may not be provided to the respondent, provided the said original manuscript
(without editing or updation) is published by the petitioner within four months
from today. In case it is not so published, the petitioner shall provide a copy
of the original manuscript of the work of Dr P C Gupta within two weeks
thereafter,” reads the Delhi High Court order of March 19, 2012. The MoD chose
to appeal to a two-judge bench of the high court, where it is still pending.
“The case is
sub judice and therefore the book is not likely to be published till the
verdict is given. The possibility of the ministry publishing this book in near
future looks difficult,” said a defence ministry official.
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