Indexed on SITUTeiR **** Initials Erfil*Ir iF/w Record A/B'' 'Erfrr File No grn Volume %TRW ff/WTT GOVERNMENT OF INDIA SIEW4 ;t3rt *TzTV - MT PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE POLITICALSECTION s'ie r t Z Trt PectrianuictwwiK NOTES/CORRESPONDENCE arhiktr Tr .................. Record C Destroyed in a12 fkrrr 7 7-17 . 11 , 4o. irla f zrr 4T aiTTT;ffitrt 4')z To be noted Not to be noted in Sectional Note Book 9. -41T Tf-all'f*K Initials of S.0./Supdt. ifficr4 * ecTRTZ ............ initials of Clerk ltd faqir SUBJECT a/24 NOT Is CORP. Jr CONTENT s , re foe lel '2- <C to-fl firs* rqrk Previous References RIq * Later References
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Indexed on
SITUTeiR ****Initials
Erfil*Ir iF/wRecord A/B''
'ErfrrFile No
grnVolume
%TRW ff/WTT
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
SIEW4 ;t3rt *TzTV-MT
PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE
POLITICAL SECTION s'iertZTrt PectrianuictwwiK
NOTES/CORRESPONDENCE
arhiktr Tr ..................Record C Destroyed in
a12 fkrrr 7 7 -17. 11 ,4o.
irla f zrr 4T aiTTT;ffitrt 4')z
To be notedNot to be noted in Sectional Note Book
9 . -41T Tf-all'f*KInit ials of S.0./Supdt.
ifficr4 * ecTRTZ ............initials of Clerk
l t d
faqirSUBJECT
a/24
NOT IsCORP. Jr
CONTENT s
,re foe l e l
'2-<C to -fl
firs* rqrkPrevious References
RIq *Later References
The case regarding the demand for a fresh inquiry
into ,the disappearance of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose has
been examined in detail.
Two Committees have already gone into the whole
question. One was headed by Maj. Gen. Shah Nawaz Khan
whoOscredentials and loyalty to Netaji can hardly be questioned.
The dommittee did examine Maj. Gen. Habibullah who admittedly
accompanied Netaji on his fateful journey and was with him
when the air -crash took place. His testimony cannot be
set aside lightly. There can be no doubt about his loyalty
to Netaji. There may be an attempt on his part to get some
glory for himself and also to attribute to Netaji the statement
about which there is some contradictary evidence. He mightZ.4
be trying to capitalise over the situation but most unlikely
to accept the fact of death if it was not a death. The
statement of 4 survivors of the crash particularly where
it is unanimous cannot also be discarded. Mere contradictions
in the testimony of witnesses cannot be held to estavilaIlsh
a positive evidence. In other words contradictions cannot
be substitutes for positive evidence of survival.
It is significant that in the case of this Committee
at the stage at which propositions were considered by the
Committee there was unanimity about the death of Netaji.
It is only subsequently that his brother, Suresh Chandra Bose
disagreed with the finding and submitted a dissenting report.
Thus what was in fact unanimous decision became only a
majority decision at the time of report. This majority report
was accepted by the Government. This was 21 years ago.
The controversy, however, was kept on and it
assumed proportions to the extent that Government was
compelled to appoint a Commission of Inquiry to go into the
entire matter in July 1970.
Shre G D. Khosla, Rtd. Chief Justice of the Punjab High Court.
After an extensive inquiry including visits to the relevant
places and examining 224 witnesses of whom 100 were examined
abroad and scrutinising a large number of files and docume-ts
the Commission submitted its Report on the 30th June, 1974
and confirmed the finding of Gen. Shah Nawaz's Committee.
The main witnesses who destified the fact of death of Netaji
were also the witnesses in this inquiry except that Maj. Gen.e
Habibullah could not be present to give evidence since he4/
was in Pakistan. It may be ad ed that there were allegations
against him that he had participated on Pakistan side
durine 1947-48 ag4ression of Jammu & Kashmir. This may account
for his inability to be present along with the developments
of 1971. The fact remains, however, that the inquiry was
thorough and the mere fact that again there were discrepencies,mal l
and contradictions in the testimony/witnesses cannot sufffceee,e
to set alie the findings which were accepted by Government
after a very careful consideration.
Shri Samar Guha still maintains that these two
inquiry committees have not been able to get at the real
truth. The patest pieces of evidence which he cites are:
1. The official documents which have been published;
2. Lord Wa(vali's Journal
3. S.E. Asia and British Govt. Intelligence Reports.
I was at that time Deputy Secretary in the Home (
Department and can testify to the fact that there was
reluctance on the part of British officialdom in India
and also His Majesty's Government in White Hall to pay
full credence to the Japanese report. This was precisely
for the reason for which it is now suggested as to why
the Japanese put out the report of his death. There is
no doubt that the British Government and the Govt. of India
were very keen on capturing Netaji alive if they could
and thought that because of services by him, the Japanese
were keen on keeping up the pretence that he was dead.
This is why there are references to a conditional approach
to the Japanese broadcast and the news of his death.
This was coupled with the general wishful thinking in India
that Netaji had escaped and would come to India only. This
belief, however, does not figure after the initial few months.
So far as intelligence reports are concerned, it is well-known
that not s'ci11 -often intelligence reports display the trend
which the author intends to believe in. Consequently, the
intelligence reports at the time did keep in reserve the
possibility that Netaji may survive and become available.
So far as Panditji's letter is concerned, the
version of Mr. Jain, PS. to Shri Asaf Ali is definitely
a concoction. Even Pandit's worst opponents would not
cfedit him with the sort of attitude displaced in that
tter. In fact Panditji's solicitude for the Austrian
dy to whoa Netaji got married and subsequently for
daughter itself is evidentr_of the fact that he retained
sentimental attachment to Netaji despite political difference-
The whole question used to be discussed between him
and Sardar who really made the first gesture by sending
some amount to the Austrian lady out of the funds left
by Vithalbhai and subsequently in sparing funds from
Relief Fund for 'mad creating a Trust for his
daughter In the circumstances any misunderstanding of
Panditji's role would be quite misplac44:
The fact or otherwise of Netaji's death at
this stage can have only an academic interest. Already
a very substantial amount of expenditure has been incurred
on the two Commissions. Any other Committee would also
tour the East Asia and would cover the same ground without,r
in any way, being further enlightened. In the face of
evidence which has already been collected by the two
Committees it is only a strong positive evidence that
fact that Netaji survived and went over to Manchuria and
thence to Russia?I& quetion will still he a
question, What happened to him when he went to Russia.
Was he liquidated, as was the fashion in the time of Stalin
or did he escape. If so, how and where he got the asylm.
's" F
PA
v r (PRIME MINISTER' s OEF ICE
Th e Du es t i on on t h e WA: t r ea su r e on wh i c hwe ha d fu r n i s he d fac t ua l in fo rmat ion h a s be e n a d m i t t e dfor _ gu . . . . 1 . . a n s ve r i n t h e Lo k S a b h a i n 22nd Fove m be rT h e Ka ma t h 4y -A
P . R a s ed on t h e fa c t ua l . in for ma t i on ob t a i n e df r o m th e D e p a r tm e n t o f Cul t u r e a n d Minis t ry of F x t e r na lAffa ir s , a dr a ft re p ly a.nd a n o t e fo r Su p p l emen t a r i es .ha ve be e n p r e n ar e d and a r e p l a ce d b e l o w fo r ap p rova l .
3. Two as re c t s o f t h e An s we r t o wh i c h pa . r t i c u l l sat te n t io n may be d r a wn a r e :
, ( a ) In t h e in fora i a t i on \ made aa ra . i l a b e t o u s b y t h e
Minis t r y of Exte r na l Affa ir s i t s s t a t e d t ha tun de r th e ins t ruc t ions o -f t h e th e n Pr i m e Mini s t e rth e t r ea s ur e box wqs ' b r o u gh t t o Ind ia W I Ci
de live re d t o th e Minis tr y of Ex t er na l . Affa irs 'a n d r e ma i n e d w i t h t hem t empor a r i ly . I n ou ra n s w e r t o pa r t s ( a ) a n d (b ) o f th e eu e s t i on . ,we a r e $ . t a t i n r tha t t h e bo x was b r o u F h t t o Ind iau n d e r ins t ru c t ions o f t h e t h e n P r i me Minis te r' a n d h a n d e d . o e r t o him i m m edi a t e l y on arr iva l,an d was re t a ined b y t h e Minis t ry of E xt e rna l . -1 1 , f i a i r s t emnor ar i ly ' . T h i s t s ba s ed on . t h e
mi d e b y P r incip a l Secr eta r y on t h edra t" t rep ly s . i r g e s t e d by t h e De par tmen t o fTh i Ltu r e a t the t i me o f , a p n l v i n r fac t u a l
, inf ormat ion t o Lok S a h a Se c re ta r i a t .
(b ) I n a n s w er t o pa r t (1 ) , we a r e In e r t i o n i n r b r oa ddeta i ls o f t h e cont ent s a n d the i r t o t a l netwe l F ' . t , a nd a r e no t layi r r 1. t c om p l e t e l i r ; t .
o r the toile or the Trous , , a s th i s wil l r u n in toa n u mb e r o f pa ces . P ,11,-1 de t t i l s a r e avai l ab le ,in h e ro te -) f ru p -a nment a r ies . .
)1. C i nce t h e ans ip r , e ,ren wi t hout a co m p l e t e l i s to f th e i t em s o f j e we uer v , i s ve r y I °rip', t h e eu e s t i oni s be ir , a n s w e r e d bk. la yinr a s t a t ement on t h e 7' a b le ,ra t he r t h a n IN h a vi n g t o re a l ou t a To m,
) , T h e nu e . s t i on h a s \ r e r y lo w pr ior i ty, be,inz. ... .thes t on a l e day' s i t s , 1 . t her e f o r e un l ike ly o ,f;ksavx
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i n response t o a reques t f ro m princ ipal secre tary,shri K.R. Damle. had wri t ten a le t te r i n the begining o fSeptember expla" r i ng hovf exact ly je ta j s treasure AAas brough -b y h im t o Tndia . since th is le t te r was not readily ava i l ablET cor tacted shri Damle on the te lephone and reques ted him t orecoun t the detai ls he had giv en i n the l e t t e r . shr i 7,amlesa id that around the 10th o f I\Tovember, 1952 he happened t o bEi n Japan. W hile a t the airport t o take the plane on his returrjourney t o ind ia the then Ind ian Ambassador 7r . ?0,14.f met himat the airport and reques ted him t o carry a sea led steel br i .case wh ich was sa id t o conta in jewel lery. He was asked t ohand over the box personal l y t o the then pr ime ..dr ister .shri namle asked the Ambassador about ar rangements fo rc learance o f the sui t case through Customs i n Delh i , he wasto ld that arrangements wou ld be made b y the author it ies i nDelhi. when he arr ived i n Delh i b y a panam Fl ight , he wasmet by shri Tehru ho asked the sui t case t o b e handedov er t o him. 7.7' shri !Jamie said that as per ins truct ionsreceived b y h im he wou ld ha nd i t over personal ly t o theminister. Accordingly he went t o the pr ime Al inis ter and hancover -Cie suitcase.t i t was opened i n his pre se n ce and Was fo u rt o con ta i n jewel lery i tems which had beer most ly charred andcov ered wi th soot . Thereaf ter shr i ramle l e f t .
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yet a n ot h er Que s t i on h a s been ta b led i n Lok Sabhare ga r d ing the t r e a su r e of sub ha s Chandra Bose, onwhich Tok sa b ha S ec r et a r ia t have cal led fo r fa c t u a linfo rm at ion. The Qu es t i on a n d t h e " d r a f t rep ly t o Lok sa bh aSec re tari at pl a ce d bel ow may kindly be se e n .
In th i s cont e x t I would l i ke t o draw poin t ed a t t e n t io nt o the com p a r a t i ve s ta tem ene p la ced bel ow ind i cat ing theweigh t of the ar t i c les when the y were t a ke n over by theIn d i a n l i ai son mission , Tokyo i n 1951 a n d t h e weigh t foun don inspe c t ion on 9 t h Oct ober 1978 when the box was openedunder pm , s in s t ru c t i o n s . T h er e a r e minor d if fe r e nc e s bet weenthe two se t s of we i ght s i n r e ga r d t o a nunber of pa ck a g eswhich cou l l per h a ps be ascr ibe d t o di fferen t wei gh i n gm a ch i n es used on the two occa s ions but i n th e ca s e of twop a ck a g es , the d if fe rence i s subst an t i a l - i n packa ge 2(cha r r ed and br oken ba n g l e s , pi n s , brac e le t s , buck les e t c )1978 wei gh t i s abou t 500 grams more t h a n t h e 1951 wei gh tg i ven by the Tndian mis s ion , Tokyo, wh er ea s i n packa ge 17(met a l s mos t ly ba se and dus t ) the 1978 wei gh t i s ne a r ly635 grams le s s than the wei gh t g i ven by the Ind ia n m is sio n.The Na t i on a l museun does n ot have any recor d of the wei gh tof th e i t ems when rece ived by t h em . This fa ct had beenbr ou gh t ou t i n the Note for sup p lemen ta r i es su b mi t t ed wh i l eans wer ing s t a r r ed Qu es t i on No.b0 i n the Tok Sa bh a on 22ndNovember . T had a l so spoken t o J s (T ) who drew mitts at ten t iont o i t .
In th is cont ex t the Ques t i on of re tain ing or omi t t i ngpa r a 5 of t he dr a f t re p l y t o t ok sa bh a se c re t ar i a t p l a c e dbel ow h a s t o be considered .
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11In his letter dated 20th December, 1978 to
Principal Secretary, Dr. Subramaniam Swamy, MP, referring tothe Netaji Treasure, has asked two specific questions s(i) whether a list of contents was attached with the boxWhen it arrived in India from Tokyo or whether a list wascompiled after Shri Nehru opened it; (ii) in whose officialcustody was the box before it was delivered one year laterto the National Museum,
2. Since Dr. Swamy has been relentlessly pursuing this Aoriftmatter, it may be as well to narrate the facts in some detai1j .including certain discrepancies.
3. In regard to the first question, the items of thetreasure were weighed and a list of packages of the contentswas prepared on the 24th September, 1951 When the Treasurewas taken over in Tokyo from Shri Ram Murthy by theFirst Secretary and Registrar of the Indian Mission. Acopy of this list was then sent to the Ministry of ExternalAffairs. Shri K.R. Damle brought the Treasure from Tokyoto India. There is no indication that a list was foundalong with the Treasure. Shri Damle arrived in Delhi onthe 10th November, 1952 evening by a Pan Am flight.
4. According to the records of Ministry of ExternalAffairs. Shri Damle on arrival delivered the valuables toShri H.'Dayal, then joint Secretary (Administration) in theMEA. The suitcases were kept in his cabinet. Thereafter,on an unspecified date (somewhere around 1st December, 1952)the valuables were checked and weighed. The next time theitems were checked and weighed was when the Treasure wasopened on 19-10-78 in the National Museum on the ordersof the Prime Minister. The weights recorded on the threeoccasions are given on page 7 of MEA's note dated 21-12-78.
5. On all the items there is difference between theweights recorded on the three occasions. In most casesthe difference is minor which could perhaps be ascribed tothe different weighing machines used and the 4.10x of time,but in two cases the difference is substantial. Theweight of package 2 recorded on 9-10-78 is about half akilogram more than the weight recorded by MEA on 1-12-52in India, which is more or less the weight recorded in Tokyoalso. The weight of package 10 recorded on 9-10-78 is about600 grams less than the weight recorded in Tokyo on 24-9-51.The weight of this package was not recorded on 1-12-52 byMEA although they have listed it.
6. There is another discrepancy Which is worth noting,particularly in the context of Dr. Swamy's contention.According to the records of MEA, the valuables on arrival inIndia were delivered by Shri Damle to Shri H. Dayal, thenJoint Secretary in the MEA, and subsequently on anunspecified date (somewhere around 1-f2-52) they were checkedand weighed; the then Prime Minister inspected the articleson 9-1-53 and recorded a minute. On the other hand, inreply to a query from Principal Secretary, Shri Damlehimself has stated on 3-9-78 that on arrival from Tokyohe took the valuables to Prime Minister Shri Jawaharlal Nehru;%who had the sealed box opened in his presence, and it was .seen tocontain charred items of jewellery cOered with stlitpi_ _ _ . _Thereafter the Treasure remained in the custody of LA untilit was handed over to National Museum.
7. As regards the second query of Dr. Swamy, thevaluables in a sealed box were deposited in the cash chestof the Ministry of External Affairs till it was handed overto the National Museum on 30-12-53.
8. A draft reply to Dr. Swamy is placed below forconsideration. Since he has not asked about the weight of the0,-. _ .articles, nothing is being mentioned in our reply about
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the discrepancy in weights.
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r,"elDRESPONDENCE
D R . G . S . DHILLON
1 : . 2 1 / 1iTzr44 ,g f t
SPEAKER,LOK SA BH A
/PM ))t
i t!Dear Madam Prime Minister,
SPEA KER' H O U S E
20 , A K B A R R O AD
NEW DE L H I
October 31, 1974
//Please refer to your letter No.317-PM0/74
of September 21, 1974 regarding the allegation made
by Shri Samar GUha in the House on the 5th August,
1974 that Shri Justice Khosla had brought a gift
for you from Formosa. I saw your letter on my
return from tour abroad on the 24th instant.
I suggest that if you have no objection,
you may send a copy of your above -mentioned
letter to Shri Samar GUha.
With kind regards,--!!;
)
Shrimati Indira Gandhi,Prime Minister of India,New Delhi.
Yours sincerely,
(G.S.DHILLON) 4e.
r.
trs
B.N, Tendon,-Joint Secretaryto the Prime Minister
ckso k,v,k) November 2 , 19 74
De a r Shri Samar Guha,
I n the context of the renrence madeby yo u i n the Lok Sabha o n 5th 'Augu st , 1974t o a gi f t alleged t o have been brought forthe Prime Minister by ,Thri Ju t1 .e Ihoslafror i POrnIOSa. Prime l!in is ter a l e t t ,a.rt o the 9:c)orlkei r o n 21st !;e n te mbe r, 11 7 4clar ifying the factunl posi t ion. As"
- desired by her, T1 co ny o r that le t t e r I s's e n t herewith for your informst ion.
01-
Yours sincerely,
Sd '
(B .N.Tan d on )
Shr i Samnr Cruhal MP13/4 , Central Park,Calcut ta -32.
Cory t o Private Secre tary t o Speaker,Lok 3,?bbn. 71 .1.(; r r e r kindly be brought t o thenotice o f the Speake r with re ference t o hisl e t t e r t o the Pri.rn i r rter No .2 1 / 17/74 -Tdated 31st October , 1074 .
)
(N.S. Sre orp r ia n )P.S. t o P. M.
;,!
'-xVq\ n 1
2 iv?
PRIME MINISTER'S SWRETARIATNikt DELHI ,
20th December, 1q74
Dear Sir,
I am des ired t o acknowledge the
receipt o f your let ter da te d 14 th December,
1?74 addres,sedto the Pr ime Mini s ter re , lrding
Neta l i Subhas Cha-nd,irk Bose.
Yo u rs fn i t h f u l ly,
(N.S. Sre e rama n )Pr ivate Secretary t othe Pr ime Mini ster
Shr i Sasi Rajendiran ,President ,Twil l Nadu Forward Block Subhas is t s2501 Nor th Masi Street ,Madural-1 . (Tamil Nadu)
Cony wi th l e t t e r under acknowle dgement i nor ig ina l fo rwarded t o Minis try o f Home Aff,-, i r s(Shri R.D. E p -000 r, Under Secre t r y) .
- - -1-4
(N.S. Sreeraman)Private S, . . cretary t othe Prime Minister
12 th. December 1974, iCalcutta Dharamsala, 1 ,o
oeYlaimisharanya, Y
dtapur,Jttar Pradesh.,I'i/AA/MNY.
1 12.74
reemati Indira Gandhi
rime Minister of India
New -Delhi,
'Madam.Your taunt to Samar GuhaA0 the parliament "The entire house would
be happy if you can tell us where Netaji is", forced me to address this
etter.
At the very outset I would speak of your father's letter addressed to
Suresh Bose " I have no definite proof of Subhas death " even after the
emphatical announcement of Sah Nawaz report on the floor of parliament
is not ambigous ? Secondly, why a batch of intellegence service was posted
at Naimisharanya during 1964/65 to watch 'Parda Baba '? And when he left
Naimisharanya to the gardenhouse of Raja of Ayodhya at Darsan Nagore
why the intelligence service followed him like ghost ? Thirdly why Lal
Bahadur Sashtri said at the parliament " We will wel-come him as one of
'ithe greatest hero 4,1 even after the declaration of Sah Nwaz report ?
Justice Radha Benode Paul after returning from Japan told me nersonally
"Plane crash was hood wink. He is alive." Justice Paul was not belong
to any political party. Fifth : Thy the Japanese General was refused to
go to Tmphal on January 24 th. last ?
Lastly on Nov.19th. 1973 I went to Safdarjan Road to say you something
personally. I was directed to Lok Sabha. There I met sri,Sashon your P/S
at 10-40 A.:%(Serial No.16342: Register No.563) To him object of my visit
I stated otherwise that too was not fabulous. But despite my all best
endeavour I could not convince him and returned to Calcutta. iaddle of '74
T returned again to Naimisharanya and returning again on 18th. of this month.
ry hearth has been reserved otherwise would travell via Delhi. In Calcutta
I will stay with A.N.Roy, 12/1, 1aharani F,emantakumari Street, Calcutta 4,
Yours faithfully,a mendicant in social service.
2.( Swami Amalananda )
-
"
PRIME MINISTZR/S SECREiARIAT
..We forward herewith a copy of a letter dated
12th December, 1974 receivId.by Prime Minister fromSwami Amaliananda, Calcutta Dharamsala, NalmisharanyalSitapur, 171W)r Pradesh, regarding Nstaji Subhas CbanderBose.
fre-77I ,
Vg.S. Sreeraman)
the Prime Minister
t- Ministry of Hnle Affair_s (Shrl_ R.114'Ygnoort U.S)P.M' Sactt. U.O.No. - _ v/dated
I
4.
My Dear Morarjibhai,
4.1,1
e
HAR -t- N SHAHKU M KU M SU N G LO WCO PER NIC U S R O A D
NEW DELHI 110001
T ELEPH ONE 3 3 6 3 8 2
May 5, 1977.
A 11 of us know about the unparalleledadoration in w:lich Nateji Subhash Chandra Bose is lie*d by the RMientire country. Some of us who had opportunity to work with him inIndia,owe it to him more specially to see that his high idealsremain enshrined and contimue to be cherished by our successiveaanerations.
You migh reaall that I was the first Indian to reach within monthsFormosa where Netaji was involved in the plane incident and died,,from mainland China where I was a War Correspondent and GeneralManager,, Par Eastr of Free Press of India News Agencyrlaunched
by Shri S.Sadanand.My investigations on the spot with the assistaarlater
called Taipeh by the Chinese,were presented in the form of a reporto Government of India ,who, in their turn, presented a detailedstatement through Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to the Lok SabhcThe sentimentrhoweverr was strong not to see Netaji dead.Thenfollowedr Shahnawazkhan Ennuiry Committee beforexitak whichr mainevidence was led byNetajits ADC Col. Habibur Rehman,who escapeddeath in the same incidentr and myself.A voluminous report wassubmitted to the Parliament by this Committee.
The controversy whichr howeverr, lingered on about Netajils death,has finally been put to rest the other day, with the passing awayof Shaukmar Sadhu, whom a few interested persons had pictured asNetaji living in disguise.
I would suggest that the time is now opportune to do somethingto enqure that the hallowed spotsin Taipehlcapitai. of Formosa,where the plane carrying Netaji jad ckashedrthe South Gate JapaneArmy Hospital where Netaji was treated and lived for about 8hoursbefore breathing his lastr and the Crematorium r ore on theoutskirts of Taipeh across the Wooden Log Brid . o144tLiaicaan'ealinto oblivion and go beyond recognition.To ten of millions ofIndians at home and overseasr these spots ,which I had personall3visited and have taken photographs of,. would remain sacred al dplace of pilgrimage.mhough we do not haye auy diplomatic trattiaa:relations with the Kumintang Government 6n Formosa,we do haveeconomic relations and contacts with them. There sould be no
insurmountable difficulty in exploring V.e state of these hallowspots and our friendly interest in prese*ng them.If the Japanesand the Siamese could be permitted to build memorial to Buddha i:India by us r there is no reason why with the cooperation of theGovernment therr r our Government could not take some steps for tpreservation of the memories of those hapPowed, /601 r
-11 t i
I reel no more time should be lost in pursuing this matter withright quarters.I woulcIwhile offering all the cooperation the Government may nein this matterlbe glad to hear what the Government plans to d+this matter.A small Committee of officials and nonofticials mbe a useful device to pursue this matter promptly. p.t.o.
-4
With Warm Rega rds ,
ez.')
111-
_ L . . . . 11 am go ing 0 1 1 -D ° I .ueini . Lox- T M 0 weenz uuu wuuitA ijvk taf ter Ig th in s t .
Shri Morarj ibha i De saiPr ime Mi ni s te t : o f India ,5 Dapl ex Rd.New De lhi .
77. '
e e/7(:-3),77Pi494
c,7
P t
I
-)/)- o>
LY11th may, 1177
NtC Y 1 '
7_)e?r Si r ,
I am desi red by the Pr ima Minis tert o ac kn T wl e dge your l a t t e r o f the 5thI v , D77, i n which you have sugges tedthat steps sh o u ld be ta ke n t o preservethe pl ice whe re Shri Subh ash Ch an draoe' g nlane crashed, t h ospi tp l wher e
h e was t reated and the Place o fcremat ion.
fThri Har in Sh a h ,117.,..im Kum 3u n glo w,Copernicus Ro ad ,New Delhi 110001
Yours fa i th fu l l y,
(N.S. Sree raman )Privnte Secretary t othe Primo Minis ter
akhmtl,L
'1 , 4 . t r . 1, r
v)11'p/
prime mileAl office
/Y0 6, 32
3)efir (ir,
0.1
July 11, 1977
I a desired to acknovizdze
receipt of your letter dated the 5th
July, 1977, addressed to the Prime
MiniIter, regarding memorials etc.
Y i r i f± t h f l l7 ,
( )Private ilecratary
to the ?rime Mini.:7,er
:hri - mesh Chan6m. Chanda,Llias ra t )
District Nadia,
Copy, together with the letterunder acknowledgement forwarded to theMinistry of Home Affairs for appropriateaction.
cipi))
(N.s.sreeraman)Private Secretary
to the Prime Minister
55A a-)
11/
?.2( 61+) /77-PN te mba r 15, 19??
/ am desi red t o ac kn owle dge
receipt o f your le t t e r dated t he 10th
3ep tember , 1977, ad . lr ez : sed t o the Prime
Minister ,
Yo ur s fa i th fully
(N.S .Sree r an)Private Secre tary t o the
Prime Minister
Shri unil Das,S a t 3 r 1jayasree,20- i. Pr ince ":;ulam Md. --joad ,CAWUZTA. P6
Co py, together with the let ter underacknowledgment , forwarded t o the Ministry ofHome Affai rs for appropriate action.
C -(.57b5( L S . Sree raglan)
Private Secre tary t o th ePrime Minister
1 ' 11.
r73, C
fl!Alls t
7 belve re c e lvi l f l yo u r la r i t :Ar o f
..7,1*1 7th '7)efzeril:;crr yru
su gge r! tq l thnt thc 77ho ,1 n sr."ortrm is tlori 11.e
tenue o f
tb hn 7,111 -rdrs '"'oeffa.1 , r . s o-T.T re l .
Your s l r el Y1
( 4.o r !Ir j I -)e. ra !)
Prof. ('`amar Gullf.t t 14. ) . 114, 7a11,-174tora loP d t
_ 2 4 2-62-L,opy with l e t t e r urder
1 4 . - /
acknowle dge men t,
i n or ig ina l , forwarded t o P. A. t o Miris ter o f
Home Affairs .
s\)
(T.r. er e e r ama n)Private Secretary t o
Pr ime Minis ter
s l
4, a
-1#2 "- - _ _ _4 BEPIN PAL ROAD,
er
. . ; o n r 1 P a KALIGHAT, CALCUTTA, 2 611.12, 77
4 1 ) You may remember that "hen-I interviewed you at
Pi'tiecre 2/tsrt7 P140..//63C7cute .....
,on 26 August last I hand-ed over tc you a printled co:cy
1 1. 0
'
of a largely signed petition recuestin? the Government to
appoint a fresh committee fcr the investigation of the fate
of 7"etaji Subhas Eose.After my return from Delhi I read theGovernment
Sixth Volume of the printed records of the Pritish,r\ re the
Transfer of Power ( tc India) .The secret correspondence
between the Viceroy and the Secretary of State for India
published in this volume leaves no doubt that Subhas Bose
did not die in any air crash on 18 August,1945) and probably
proceeded to 7anchuria.l had a talk with my old pupil Shri
Samar Guha 7.P.yesteruay and he will be glad to meet you and1
discuss the whole matter in detail.As all the previous Cream4..t
Committees have concluded that Subhas died in the Air -crash
i cannot help thinking that there is a good case for the
appointment of a fresh Committee to investigate into the
matters Kindly excuse me for the intrusion on 'yCl .)T valuable
t i L E .
The 5hri Mkrarji Desai
fours sincrely
.^1
10'
,9
0. l ') 4- ?YO/7S
T fac,,ax :.7ajtu.:Idar,7
AI, 3,3
T u ry* 1r3.
yell for your letter of 1th 'Dee'.-mber 1977,2 1,arlin; -etaji ,u;)h,; 7 a-vo h -d ths sixn vol=e
the ]rintr.d r -.nrd of the Tr nrfer o- ?o-'erlooked into tut -7e h/ve o beri able to fInd evilrnoeto sust,in the inforcnre that Lubhas Soee did not dIe inthe air crash on 17.0.11,43. In 7-,ct ';''e26' is a refor nceto the Sloaneso announcenent that he had dIed in theair cr-sh. The reference to that m-tter in the vo/uneis presumably because it'oey were not sure mhether theJaeanese announcement mas correct. In the se circumotances,T don't think that this needs any further investigationto establish tho,t he did not lie in the aircrash. In factsubseTlent inquiries made it quits clo,r boyon ro,00na-ledoubt that he diedin the aircrash. h1s h,s teenconfirmed by more than one inouiry. If it is mIsumedthat he mtre alive, I do not think he ioul. have renainedout of India till now. He mould have doubtless corehere soon after or later at any time durinl the last somany years. -;.ven un:er the law if / o-rson is not he -'rdof for seven years, he is presumed to be dead. In thecircum-tances, I do not think that any useftl lux -none moulAbe served by naving another investigation rinoe all previousinvestigations and lapse of time shoull leave no doubtthat Shri Subhls Bose is no more. In case you have inminft 'any other reference in the volume, -lease let re %nowand I shall have it looked into.
shri R.C. majumdar,4, Bipin Pal Road,P.O. Xalighat,Calcutta -26
t l I
Yours sincerely,
(monarji Desai)
S )
=
-
Prof. Samar Guha,;a,11,; OF FAilLAMENT
Li A i BH
r
-
Respected H,Ciy-C4)21 1
1 1714, Talkatora Road, /
New Delhi,
25th January, 1978.
You had asked me to send a copy ofKhosla ommission's Report on "Diseopearance of eteji3ubhas Chandra Bose". I waited a few days to send itto you as I felt a note should he included iith it forproper understanding of the nature of the report andthe findincs of the Khosla Commission.
The Report of Khosla Commission is more aninstance of suppression and concealment of facts thanof their judicial examination. Mr. Khosla examined 224Indian and Japanese witnesses, but discarding the evidenceof all Indian witnesses, he arTived at his findings onthe basis of the Japanese evidence only. Again, aboutthe Japanese evidence, Mr. Khosla relied exclusively onthe evidence of four Japanese who claimed to havetravelled in the same plane with Netaji and of a doctorwho claimed also to have treated allegedtlinjured Netajiin a Formosan hospital. But none of the could producea single piece of paper or any kind of document insupport of their claims. Mr. Khosla also did not takeinto consideration various statements of Habibur Rahmanwhich forms the part of the exhibits before the Commission.He paid little attention to the documents placed beforethe Commission, very meagre though they were, in arrivingat his findings. The evidence and documents as claimedbefore the Khosla Commission comprised about 6,000 typedpages, but discarding either the evidence, or thedocuments Mr. Khosla arrived at his findings exclusivelyon the hearsay evidence of five Japanese witnesses only.
I have taken time to send you the report becausI felt some note should be enclosed with it for yourperusal and also for understanding the nature of theKhosla Commission's report.
My book on Netaji's mystery is in the presswhich I expect to come out by the end of the next monthand when published, I will certainly present a copy to
yieldingly fighting for unravelling the mystery aboutNetaji Subhas Chandra Bose.
With kindest regards,
Shri Morarji R. Desai,' Prime Minister,
Prime Minister's Houqe,Nr.E1J DELHI.
07-r,
Yours sincerely,
(Samar Guha).
17-r,Cf I H
New Delhi .
February 2 , 19 78 .
My dear Samar Gu ha ,
Please re fe r t o your l e t t e r o f the 25th
January 19 7 8 regarding Khosla Co mmissio n 's Repor t .
I think that any controversy about the Report o f the
Khosla Co m m iss io n i s poin t l es s . -. ihatever you migh t
say about the finuings o f the Khosla Commissio n , the
fa c t re main s that l e t a j i ha 6 not re turned wh ic h h e
undoubtedly would ha ve do n e i f h e we re al ive. His
contemporar ies and companions who were examined from
t ime t o t ime h?ve been almos t un a nimou s tha t h e di ed . i n
the a i r crash. The Japanese repor ted t o that ef fec t
an d the report appears t o be e n acceptea a t the t im
S o ma ny Years a f t e r the event an y fresh invest igat ion
se ems t o me t o be a sheer waste o f money o r any fu rthe r
controversy abou t i t a sheer waste o f t ime. I n the
ci rmas tances I wou ld advise you t o l e t the matter res t
where i t i s .
With k ind. regards ,
K -67
11,-- Prof amaz e Ouha,11+, ta lkatora Road,New Delhi .
"o urs sincerely,
1 (M orarji Desai)6 .
'3
lc-6(
I r
iv
VW A Y 704:0!W_T:vs-47, Z 1 . 1A"kr'''mv4r.'"x A ,A r A m e r= r - 1 " ,
4 , r
. 4\
7y dear Shri
r
can newspaper
7any thanks for your letter
4, BEPIN PAL ROAD,
P. 0. KALIGHAT, CALCUTTA, 26
.104-P7C/
7 5.1 could not reply to it ?arlier as
again to go Yhr CU R'h 7"avell's ,7ournal (
:Joon11 73) and t-le 7101.7:
.
7E)r4ated 16 Janua-
r C C once lioatirc:ited by :enderel
of the Transfer of ?over 1542-47.
As a student cf historye,01;4:9.4
the selected records enclosed herewith
the British Government (fad. 7ery good reason disbelieveA
t!'fle story of air -crash as a fact, otivlat, ; k 4;
feel no hesitation in sayingthat
1\definitely prove that
I may draw particular attention to the4)b' R-
correspondent that he sawA
report of an Ameri-TV, ASubhas Bose at Saigo]
A
on 20 August 1545.1 drew the attention cf the 1-hosla
Commissicn A n my evidence lbut I was asked to produce theYewspaper .11replied that it is rot possible for me to do so
but if the Con -mission really wants to find out the truth ill
a copy of the relevant extract may be obtained through the
Government cf India .Cf course it was not done ,though thiswhole ,
one evidence woulfd have settled the issue cperhaps,the
Commission did not get it for this very reason).
7ven now I would request you to secure a copy of the Amer
-can news Paper in order to establish the truth. T_ '
7.7r -' -f$41;1 T e t t ' ` ` _.4.4 . t A
IT*TOWT..
.0A.1.ycu w.d11 see in lire 14 of the en1 d n t tho 'P r ;7L.0 L A ,\`151;14;16CS ' V s; _
F-in newspapers which strengthen the conclusion that Sub'haq RoT
offTcial sources v t-or-)1*- to similar revs/\
'-as alive after 1E4h August 145.
any case )the facts in the enclosed note cannot ::ossibl.
lea.ue any doubt that the British 2,overnlent disbelieved the
. .story of the W.r-crash 1 at least until 20 ectober,1045-(item 34)0 o -
and probably even in 1946, and that he was in Russia arld_t_ha-t-4
1;.e==a-5=2119. 1a,e4c from which place he v -as in correspondence witha/
Jaharlal ehru. I have independent evidence that Nehru did notA
2 4- 1 4- 4-oc a . i ev c OLAU(i.ti WdZ.-3 a u u u L
1960 a mendicant suddenly established an Asram in Shoalmari
(an insignificant village in.rorth Bengal) and a rumour I spread V
t,at he was Subhas Dose in disguise. It was rumcl:red that
..--apperl(S hp
Nehru sent an old member of Ra-jya Sabha and an ex-revlutionaryi
uren Ghosh to Salmari to find cut whether the Sadhu wasA
really Subhas.en his return Suren Ghosh told rehru that the,
Sgdghu was not Subhash.several years4 laterI asked Jadugopal
Yukherjee,, an old revollutionary respected by iuren Ghosh as his
Guru whether Nehru did send Suren Ghosh to find out whether the
Sadhu was Subhas .Shri Mukherji asked me to promise not to
divulge it till his death and then said that /6t wasp true.
The'Observer of Delhi In. its issue of 7 November 11977,p.111makes many statements to show that Nehru knew that Netaji
was not killed by air crash but I could not verify them.If
?I
17 - 7ZL
oSsile Tcu
statemens.
beg to be
may tale stes to ascertain the truth ;,c,IP- tite
excused
Shri :Tcrarji Desai
F.6.
for writing this long letter.
vours sincere17,
CC
forgot to mention an interesting and important fact.w Y
0 Shah taTaz Kharilthe Chairman of the first Commission
that definitely concluded that Netaji died in the air Crash
on 18 August,1945) declared in a public meeting in Calcutta
hcistrg tie rational 71aL on etajl irthda:-
cr T1.Tantiarl,I57)) wtto alive and
hoped that he would be in our midst when we celebrate
>his next birth anniversary.
This speech was printed in
att4-4-3 still available.
newspapers the very next mci4in
M:317'7,
,
- 1 : Lord ".avell writes in his Journal(Diary) on 24 August,1945 :
I wonder if the Japanese announcement of Subhas Chandra Pose's
lc 0 T 'FS
death in an air crash is true.I suspect it very much;it is lust what
'would be given cut If he meant to go underground. T.ry first reaction
when I heard it was to tell P.S.V.(Jrivate Secretdry to the Viceroy)
to ask S.70A.C.(South-rast Asia (ommand) to make most careful enquiries
Into the story as soon as they could,
2. The S.E.A.C. reported as follows on pit 14th September, 194$":
The continued existence of Netaji lpossibly underground, would
undoubtedly maintain w C31/1,113:tegogattX,44 14.4:1
V
the fervour (towards
NetaZji) of the many Jifs (Jdpanese Indian Foreign Legion)) - 71,',
The polilitical circles in the Province have been greatly
, interested in the news item which alleged that Pose had been seen alive
in Saigon attcr._the after the Aircraft incident ............
The prime problem ....... is the action to be taken against Subhas
Pose if he were found alive .
S t,. Memorandum of the Secretdry or 4* State for India dated
191-15'20 October repeats the last two lines quoted above
0. On 22 August.1c45,the Japanese newspapers published the news that
retaji died in aircrash on the 18thv0n 23 August tt.7ie Home Member
of the Viceroy's Ceurejl,ft'udie, submitted a long note to the Viceroy
'avell,discussing Ail? the various ways in thich retaji could be treated
-0;
and the advantage and tho disadvantage of each.Finally he suggested that
the best course as regards " treatment of Dose " will be to "leave him
where he is and rot to ask for his surrender or release.be might 7of.
course,ir certain circumstances ,be welcomed by the Russians .'This course :
would raise fewest immediate political difficulties"
"aye].) proceeded to Ionden ord h.,-nded over this note to the British
trime inister Attlee.qhe British cabiret approved it on October ,25.
5. "In 19413 according to Allied Secret Report ro,10rlisc/I/4A.the
sh Intelligence informed the ",avell Government: "A secret repert sdys
rehru received a letter from Pose saying that K he was in Russia and
that he wdntcd to escape in India " (organizer Irebruary 2,1976,page
Nak , Vv.- 14a,
'
6 1'The first news of the alleged death of 217was
contained in a Domei a -e messagefrom Toky
dated 23 August,19451 stating that he was treated in a
hospital in Japan and died on 1b-19 August.
(This obviously shows that somehow the originalcpb- kA/,
plan of the false announcement ofdeath 1, was carried evrt-7,1t
out by someone erroneously?. e
7. The GAC51,A Commission Vo.1 report dated 6 Vovember
1P45 states : "It is beyond doubt that he (Pose)7
had plan to go underground 4The earlier reportm from therg
Commission dated 11;October,1945, suggested that the
Japanese had undertaken to give Bose the necessary faci-
lities to go tnder ground.
U.1'0.4 C-5 Intelligence Bureau (H.D.),Tlew Delhidated 19.2.46
My dear YoungTe have at last completed an examination of the a in-
formation available here relatinVg to the allegedentirely
death of Bose and the result is nota-ksrgetst=ft,T- satisfac-
tory.ny definite conclusion on the incident is
doubtful.
(/Ye:4,-) f f-17), A c C A . e ' r e ,
i' - D t * A t , "
0 1 ) S re, -
A
*As
r:-
N+,4
February 15, 1978
Dear S i r ,
I am(j des ired t o acknovi ledge receipt
o f your let ter dated the 3rd February, 197 8,
addressed t o the pr ime minis ter .
Yours fa i t h fu l l y ,
I
(M.S.Sreeraman)pr ivate Secretary t o
the pr ime Ministere),(71
Shr i R.C. Ma ju md a r ,4 , Bepin Pal Road,P.O. yalighat,CAICUTTA-26.
Dr.Subn4-1.glaniam Swamyl'ARLIAMENi
. \
C )C l ;
22 Dr.Rajendra Prasad Road,
New Delhi -110001.
Prime Minister Shri Morarji DesaiPrime Minister of India1,Jafdarjung RoadNew Delhi -110001.
Deax Morarjibhai:
July 28, 1978
You may have seen press reports sometime ago in
which I had alleged th'ct in 1952, Nehru had sent
a ICS officer to Tokyo to take delivery of Subhash
Chandra Bose's INA jewels. Since there is no record
of Nehru having deposited with Government any such
jewels around th, t pe iod, I think a probe is
necessry.
The ICS officer is Mr.K.R.Damle who is living in
Bombay. I hope you will have the matter looked into
so that the truth may be established.
With warm regards,
Sincerely yours,
(Subramaniam Swamy)
4 Ts' 7
Ng.
ro.1494-PM0/78 Vey Delhi,August 31 3.978
Ply dear Subramaniam Swamy,
Please refer to your letter of July 28,
1978 regarding delivery of Subhash Babuts
jewels, we have alrendy looked into the matter
and made enquiries from Shri K.R. Damle. rothing
worthwhile was received during Shri Damlets visit
to Tokyo.
have also received your letter bearing
the same date about Smt. Indira Gandhi's assets.
T gm looking into the matter.
With regards,
Yours sincerely,
mprairJ1 Desai)
Dr. Subramaniam Swemy, MP,22, Dr. Rajendra Prnsad Road,Fey Delhi.
(1'7
'
:Dr.Sub:ramaniam Swamy,_mEmrul OF rmimmmir
S1,1111!.
u 610 2r14C -cr.' f /
02 4 119 Shri Morarji Desai,Prime Minister -of India,1 3afdarjun6 Road,New Delhi.
rtti./2 Rajendra PrasadlRoad,
New Delhi -110001.
August 17, 1978.
--)P142/
Dear iderarjiphai,
Please refer to your reply No.1494-PM0/78dated 3rd August, to my letter of July 281. 1978.
Prom what you have enquired from Shri K.R.Damle,may i know whether it is confirmed that7
1. Mr- K.R. Damle was sent a cipher telegram by theExternal Affairs Ministry asking him to pick up aprcel with unknown contents, to be delivered by theJapanese authorities in Tokyo and personally hand itover to Prime Minister Nehru.
2. Whether Mr. Damle upon arrival in Delhi viaHongkong was met at the airport by Mr. R.K. Nehruwho demanded he hand over the parcel to him, butMr. Damle refused pointing to the specificinstructions contained in the cipher telegrami
3. Whether Mr. Damle took the parcel directly toP.M's house, and Pandit Nehru opened the parcelin Mr. Damle's presence?
4. Whether Mr. Damle saw for the first time thatsoot?cort ir(d j ewe' n with l n ,Tr . r o f
5. Whether Pandit Nehru then relieved Mr. Damleof further responsibilities in the matter ?
6. Whether Pandit Nehru never reported any part ofthe entire transaction to the Government or handedover any part of the parcel to the Government aswould be required of him ? Nor did Mr. Nehru orMr. Damle mention any of this to any Netaji EnquiryCommission ?
2
10-4,. -:: 2 ::
If the answer to these questions isin the affirmative, you will agree that it needsto be recorded because it may have a bearingbn the entire mystery of Netaji's disappearance.In the interest of search for truth, I urgeyou to institute a probe in this matter.
With warm regards,
Sincerely yours,
(Subramaniam Swamy).
''''
f.4.1
31k.
1, 4,...:,
1.k 1
y k ,
R ,.....,,
.::.,r141:: t
F:72.......:
00
,,-,-,-,a:r)0
There have been two eniflIries into the report of the
to Manchuria, one by a Committee presided over by Maj. General
header' by Shrl G.D. Khosla, retired Judge of the Punjab High
Court. The majority report of the first Committee and
Shri Khosla held the report of death as true. Since then,
/reasonable doubts have been cast on the correctness of the
conclusions reached in the two Reports and various important
\A/contradictions in the testimony of witnesses have been noticed.
? 1 Some further contemporary official documentary records have
also hnnomp availablo. In tho linhf nf fhnsp dnuhfs and
contradictions and those records, Government consider that
it would be very difficult to regard these findings asr-
( 5 / L conclusive.LAOLthe same time Government feels that evidencelpeina the same it is most unlikely that any new light can be
-VA j r
tf.k,e, e-77.,
)dA 7/J17 k 711 , , i , ,
g) ,)
/5
1.fre's
4 . r :lt
thrown on thisietter which might compel a reversal of the
earlier findings. They, therefore, consider that no useful
purpose would be served by having any further inquiry
Government hope that in the light of this statement the
Hon. Member will withdraw his Motion.
4
There have been two on eiries into the report of the
death of Netnji Subhas Chrndra Pose in the air...crogh on
to Vanchuria, one by a Covrittee piesided over by Maj. General
Shah Nlvinz 1,11.-in and second y
hen-le, by Sri G.?). Khosle, retired Judge of the Punjab High
Court. The majority report o the first Committee and
Shri Khosla held the report of death ns true. Since then,
reasonable doubts have been cast on the correctness of the
conclusions reached in the two Reports and various important
contradicticr, ;n the teetioeny nr wiinc og have been noticed.
Seme further enn4emporary erficial documentary rocords have
also become available. In Lhe light of those doubts and
contradictions and those records, Government consider that
it would be very difficult to regard these findings as
ronolusive, At the same time Government feel that evidence
beine the same it is clioet on:Moly that any new light can be
thrown on this tatter which vight comrel a reve,sal of the
earlier findings. They, therefore, con-ider that no useful
purpose would be served by having any further inquiry.
(;ovelereot hope that in the 11!:11-, of this statement the
Hon. Vember will withdraw his Metier.
0
cc;CP
4 PERSONALCeNFID IAL
1 1cfl
26th ugust 1978
I believe P.M. earlier has had a talk with
you about the treasure reported to have been sal-
vaged frcm the aircraft in which Netaji SUbhash
Lelandra Bose is alleged to have met his death.
There i s a reference to it in the Report of the
Enquiry Committee presided over by Major General
Shah Nawaz Khan. Your name does not figure among
the witnesses who we,e examined. Shri SUbramaniam
Swamy htis raised the question with P.M. and has
sent to P.M. the following queries:
1. Mr.K.R.Dawle was sent a cipher tele-gram by the External Affairs Ministryasking him to pick up a parcel withunknown Contents, to be delivered by theJapanese authorities in Tokyo and per-sonally hand it. over to Prime MinisterNehru.
2. Whether Mr.Damle upon arrival in DelhiVI a Honekcng w ro,)t. at the airport byMr.R.K.Nehru who demanded he hand overthe parcel tohim, but Mr.Etmle refusedpointing to the specific instructionscontained in the cipher telegram?
3. Whether Mr.Lomle took the parcel directlyto P.M's house, and Pandit Nehru openedthe parcel in Mr.Demle's presence?
4. Whether Mr.Domle saw for the first time.that the parcel contained jewels with r
a layer of soot?
,
,
Ps0
PERSONALNi'IAL
.2-
5. Whether Pandit Ile h 11 then relievedMr.Damle of further responsibilitiesin the matter?
6. whether Pandit Nehru never reported anypart of the entire tr,ansaction to theGovernment or handed over any part ofthe parcel to the Government as would bereouired of him? Nor did Mr. Nehru orMr.Damie mention any of this V) anyNetaji g;nquiry Gormission?
P.M. woui.d like to know if you can throw any
light on the matters raised so that he can send a
suitable reply to Shri Subramaniam Swamy.
With kind regards,
Shri K.P,Damle*
, ))7yeks
1)x.,,. ketv beg,P (,t): e
dr, - 4 1.7 o
-
Yours sincerely,
(V.Shankar)
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CONPID4NTIAL
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PRIMR MINIMIeftq CFFICE
I mentioned to P.M. rearing the views of the Shah
/4aiwaz Khan Committee on the question of the treasure that
lwas salvaAwc; from the aircraft in which Metaji was reportet
1to h,Tive met r tth. Chapter VI of Shah nawaz Khan's
report deals with this whole prrhlem. According to the
,Report tile box had been tampered with, was much lighter in
iweight and less than half '.71111 and that the valuables
!remained with frcm 1945 to 1951. According to th(
Othosla Com ni. t te e . Report the valuables were scattered in
thc aireicld whe the plane crashed and some of the article
iwera damace,d. Whatevel'. valuableswere there were gathered
land placed in a box whi(41 was s:ant to Tokyo along with the
casket containing Netaji's ashes. This box was taken charg
jof by Mr.Ram7,murti and handed over to the Indian Mission ir
Tokyo in lc -51. Oventu,Ally it ap.pears that it was received
!India and was entrusted to the Nstinal rdnives for custoC
P.M. would liko to know whether it is still in National
Archives, whethr tkie Natioual Archives have any material
'which can throw light on its history and whether they are
lewaro nf its contents and vlue.Extracts of photostat copies of lists made out by
icol.Habibur
/C.28.8.1978
(V. Shankar)
iEduea.tion .§acr4azy (Shri Sciba j r )
e, fy
PROF. SAMAR GUHAMEMPER OF PAR L I AM EN T
LOK SABHA)
:--r
WW1 us%
)
Respected Morarjibhai,
CONFIDENTIALMOST IMMEDIA1
2)New Delhi -110001,
e'
August 24, 1978
In my earlier meeting with you I could not catch yourwords when you said that the draft statement on 'Disappearanceof Netaji (-)ubhas Chandra Rose' was shown to me. Yesterday,shri Ravindra Varma told me in the House that Shri Biju Patnaik
could he show the draft to me nor discuss anything about itexcept the question of fresh inquiry, and that too casually inthe Parliament Lobby.
Shri Varma hurriedly read out a portion of the draftto me in the House. He was rather not inclined to show me thedraft. T. could understand his difficulty as, in the House, itwould not have been proper, perhaps, to show me the draft.The text of the draft What he read out to me,appears rathersomewhat confusing, at least that part of the draft which dealswith the question of fresh inquiry.
feel that there is no necessity for the Governmentto make any observation in regard to the necessity about afresh inquiry about Netaji. As I told you categorically that,for reasons which I have communicated to you personally, I feelthat there is no necessity, any moreof further inquiry.
However, T think this part should have been left tome to say it before the House while withdrawing my amendmentregardinn the demand for fresh inquiry. Such procedure wouldhave helped the Government or otherwise embarrassing questionsmay he raised in the House and outside in regard to the issueof fresh inquiry. If there is any adverse criticism to be metin this regard, it will be better that it should be left to meto face it.
You have dealt with this delicate matter veryjudiciously. Now that my Motion on Khosla Commission's Reportwill come up before lok Sabha early next week, I shall behighly obliged to you if you kindly entrust one of your Cabinetcolleagues, like Prof. Madhu Dandavate, to show me the draftso that I can carefully go through it and suggest to you if anychange is to be made without substantially altering the mainperspective of the draft.
2
0,
w
MLMRER OF PAR LI AM EN T
LOK SA B H A )
WON 11101
2
(1-A)
I ho2e you will understand my_position and theresponsibiaity I have to shoulder so far as public opinionIF concerp4d.Lin rag,ord to not denjanqinq any fresh inquiryabou Neta.ai.S.u6Fi_CE-a-ndra Dose.
With kind regards,
Shri Morarji Desai,Prime Minister of India,New Delhi.
Yours sincerely,
( SAMAR GUHA )
: S
6);
Jear Guha,
August
,et in
'27lew Ozghi,\ugust 26, 1978
/lease refer to yodr letter of
?it. I understand that Biju will
touch with you In regard to the
statqclent which the (;overnmnt would want
to make on whether mother Committee to
inquire into Retail 3ubhas Chandra nose's
'Itsarrlearance would serve any useful
rurrose.
Yrof. Samar Guha, MPTalkatora
iew 9elhi-1
Yours sin 5rely,
(Morarji Oesal)
3o-4'LP
i v
1", , .
7 / ')V/)
will besigned it.
1- _---g -
1 . 1 1 . . I m a 0 . a .IL may also ple ase De stated wnetner tne ministry nave any objection to----- p#77
the information contained therein being conveyed to the Member._
.A reply is requested by r
,V5) ,r1 ki
LOK SABHA \LEeRETARIAT(Question Braueb)
MOST IMMEDIATE
SUBJECT: Starred Question Dy.No, 1.3 tor /
regarding 4 4104-4-c . J:.04 4 .14.4
143n4'84--r--)""t P is request#_kindly to state thei:katstregard-ing the above question (copy enclosed) with aview to enable the Speaker to decide the admissibility of the question.
While furnishing the facts, it may please be stated whether the note h&!been shown to the Minister. In the absenee ot any indication to this effect it
assumed that it has been issued with the approval of the Officer who has
II 4/ T 4
L.S.S. U.O. No. SQ,D
LSS/Q,1/8
for SENIOR EXAMINER OF QUUT_I-ONS---Tel ,No,
dated the 6 it_rie.-(1)g
'
QUESTION FOR THE LOK SABHA
D. No 731
Ministry to which the day has been allotted
'fht; question will be put down for the
sit t ing on
P 1M . 0 CE
22 .11.78
HAitt 3131111 1.T.1 TH :I r i n e
Will theininister be leased t o state:
(a) whe ther i t i s a fact tha t a treasure box belonj .ng t o
the President o f Arze e Etecaz iat -e -Azad Hin d , l ie ta j i Subhas
Bo se , was brought t c Vixi India sore ;;Ti r s ago ;
(b) i f so , exaotlyi by. whom ar26 i n wha t et row: st an ces;
( c) wher e and i n lino sc custody i t had been kept since ;
( d) whe the r i t was, o ened recent ly:
( e) i f so , when exac t y, under whose orders ;
( the reasons fo r_ o pe ning the bcx ;
( the names of penznns who were present when the box was
orened;
(h) the descript ion o f the box, and o f the method o r
technique by which i t iac opened;
( i ) the detailed inventory o f the contents o f the box;
(1 ) whe ther the bo x i s lying orm with the conten ts taken
out, o r whe the r the conten ts have been replaced and the box
re -closed;
PTO _
(k) where the box is now ept ,
(1) hether t bo a r i t q cx-;n. tern ts ore avail l e -1'o:-
observation and insrectior by f le r ' 'er s of Parliorent, _and
(m s) i f n e t . the reaECTAS therefor ?
43.11
E)
11../ 1111,1
)
g)
f )
PROPOSJED aDrri3S 70 TH777, '.;4U3STIOU
A box sail to contain th= trasure that wassalva_ed from the aircraft 'n hch etaji
re:)orted to h7,ve met hie eath, ':;2.5 madeover to the atien?,1 M 1"?' tho 7anistryef .xterna1 in i 5. t.ez....5(.4 t,--tug.
t OJR tro"*.^ 1 4 - 1 0 4.4.A.4.., t )" -^ P a r i . 4 . 4 t r ,no box is ,laced in a D'lerrate hi
se ;led by the Ministry of External .fairsanri entrusted to the custe'e'y of the jationall',1useum, Zew Delhi.
'" I' - the presence the follow in officers
7.1, 1 1 A , 1 : 1 1 'y-1-3 ÷ - ....)ecre t,a2y,Department o f Cultur:=.
2. Shri Deshpande,Archaeoloical survey of India.Jhr i C. Sivarmamurti, Form,=r Director,National Museum.
4. Dr 3anerjee, Assistant Director,:Tational Museum.
5 . Stri I.D. ::I.a.thur, Keeper(L.:.:E), :TrItional Museum.6. Dr N.a. 3anerjee, Director, 7ntional
Shri 7.2. 3alakrishnan, Director(Establishment) andShri tfsh Sinta, Under Secretary, of the Ministryof External :Vffairs, joined later and left before thecontents were sealed again.
The box was opened under instructions of the
lo verify the observations made in Chapter VI ofShah Nawaz Khan's Report about the contents of the bo
Please refer to reply under (e) above.
lhe seal of the cloth bag containing the box wasopened and the bag. seen to contain a steel suitcase.The suitcase was opened with the key tied to the sealof the Diplomatic Bag.
Detailed inventory running into 6 _pages can be seenin the Report of the Committee which has already beensubmitted to P.M.'s Office, copy placed below in,.the-file at flag 'X'.
,
(4,0
r = 3 ..0 -
i nt 1 , 1 9, S t 7 , 3 3 .1. 1%,1 b 9..nc,^ "Ls + 1.-1 4 r i v: ', 4....
bo:t h.ras been r t'r. ca d n e t)n. c- y n t
nrr.
MOST IMMEDIATEPARLIAMEgt 'REST ION
PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE
sub jec t : sta rre d Ques t io n ny.mo.733 for 22 -1 1-7 8rega rding Treasure BOX belonging t o Ne ta j isubas h Chandra B ose .
-o-o-o-o- co-
Reference i s invi ted t o fok sabha secret aria t U.O. No.sQD.133/22-ft/78-Q dated the 6th November, 1978 on the subjec t
. mentioned abo ve.
T he facts rela t ing to the Ques tion are g iven be lo w:-
(a ) (b ) A box sa id to conta in the trea sure that wasSalvaged' from the airc ra ft i n whi ch Ne t aj i was reportedt o have met his death, was made ove ra he Na t i ona l museumby the mi ni s try o f Externa l Affairs in 195 3 . I t W a sbrought t o inc l ia by 5t i r i K.R. namle from Tokyo underin s truct ion from the then prime pgini ster . i t was handedover t o him immediate ly on arrival .
(c) The box i s pl a c e d in a Diplomat ic Bag which had beensea led b y the m inis t ry o f ex te rna l Affairs and entrus te dto 'kcustody o f the Nat i ona l museum, New Delh i .
(d) ye s .
(e) on 9/ 1 0/ 7 e in the rrPsen c e of the fo l lo wi ng off icers;
1 . shri A.s . Gin, Add it ion al se c re ta ry ,Department o f culture.
2 . shri M.N. Deshpande, Di re c to r GeneralArc ha eo log ic a l sur vey of Indi a .
3 . shri s iv aramamurt i , Former Direc t or ,National museum.
4 . Dr. P. Banerjee , Assi s t an t Di re ctor ,Nat iona l Museum.
5 . Shri 'Ton. Mathur, Keeper (ptE), National museum.6 . Dr. N.R. Raner jee , Direc t or , Na t i ona l museum.
shri K. p. nalak rishnan, Di re ct or (Establ is innent ) andnhr i At ish irth3, Vnder secre ta ry o f he r. f i ln ist ry of E x t erna l,v f fa i rs , jo ined la te r and left befo r e the co nt en t s werese a le d ap a in .
The box or:a opened under instruc tions o f the prime
( f ) T O ver ify the ob se r va t io ns , made in chapter v i o fShs,h Maraz ) (han's Report about the co nt e n t s o f the box .
(g ) pleas e refer t o rep ly under (e) above .
(h) The se a l of the clot h bag containing the box wasopened and the bag seen t o co nta i n a steel suit case . Thesuitcase was opened wi t h the key t ied to the seal of theDiplomat ic Bag.
(1 ) A detaialod itSventory has been prepared.
( i ) The co nte nts of the box were placed ins ide-su i t c a se and bag , and once aga in sea led idath
i
(1) g (m) The box has been re - sealed vtith the contentsand hence they are not avai lable fo r observat ion andinspection.
There i s no object ion t o this informat ion beingco nvey ed t o the member.
it(N .S .Sre eraman)
private secretaryt o the prime minister
Lok -Sabha secretariat (quest ion Branch)pORts off i ce u.o. No. .dated : 73,// ,-)V
copy forcNarded for informat ion t o Parl iamentSect ion, pmos of f ice .
14.3fr-4
Tre asn re Box belongin g to Netaj iS ubhas C handra Bose
*60. S I M I HAR I VISHNUKAMATII :
SHP , ' SM I E N D R A BIKRAM:
Will the PRIME MINISTERr°4-FT Thftbe pleased to state :
(a) whe the r it is a fact tha t at reasure box belonging to the Presi -de n t of Arzce Hukumat -e -Az ad Hind,Nelaji W i l m s Chandra Bose, wasbrowt ht to India some years ago;
(b) if so, when exact ly, by whomand in wh at ci rcumstance s:
(e) whe r e and to whose custodyit had been kept since;
(d) whe the r it was opened recen-tly;
f so, when exact ly, by whomunder whose orde rs;
(f) the reasons for opening thebox;
(g) the names of persons whOwe re pres ent whe n the . box wasopened;
(h) the descript ion of the box,and of the method or techniques bYwhich it was opened;
(i) the detai led inven t ory of thecontent s o f t he box;
(j ) whet he r the box is lyi ng openWith the contents take n out or whe -ther the contents have been replacedand the box re -closed;
(ic) whe re the box is now kept ;
( I ) , whet he r the box and its con-tends ace avai l able for observat ionand inspection by Members of Par -l iament ; and
(m) if not, the reas ons there for?
AA
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! \n h A F T
JOY SABHA ADMITTED STARRED QUESTION N0 ,6 0FOR 22-11 -19(8
TREASURE PDX BELONGING TO NETAJI SIBHAS CHANDRA BOSE
Q U E S T I O N
*6 0 SHRI HARI VISHPU KAA1ATH:
SHRI SURENDRA RIKRAM:
wil l the PRIME MINISTER b e pleased
t o s ta t e :
(a) wh e th e r i t i s a fact tha t a treasure
box belonging t o the president o f Ar zee
Hukumat -e-Az ad Fu nd, Netaj i subhas Chan dra
Bose , was brought t o India some years ago ;
(b) i f so, when exact ly b y whom and i n
wh at circumstances ;
(c ) whe re and t o whose cus tody i t had
been kep t since;
A N S W E R
(SHRT vORARJI DESAI)
( ( ) ( ) -14
2- 0
(a ) & (b): A bo x said t o contain
the treasure that wa s salvaged
fr o m the a i rc ra f t i,n vvhich NetajfC C
was reported t o have met his
death, wa s made over t o the
Nat ional Museum b y -the minist ry
o f Externa l Affairs i n 1953 . i t
wa s brough t t o India b y an
of f i c i a l o f go vern me n t o f India
fr o m To kyo un d e r in s t ruc t ions
fr o m the then pr ime min is te r .
I t was handed over t o him
immediately on a r r i va l .
(c) : The box i s placed i n a
Dip lomat ic Bag which had been
sea led b y the minis try o f Exte rni
Affairs and entrus ted t o the
custody o f the Nat ional mus euip ,
1 \1 " Delhi .
Q UU S 'T I 0 r..(d) whether i t was opened recently;
(e) , / i f so , v,hen exactly, by whom
'under whose orders ;
(f) the reasons for opening the
box ;
\
(g) the names o f persons who were (g )_ppe sent when the box as opened; px y_4140.ve. ( 12) ocAr-w-C_
A N S W E R
(d) .? -
(e ) on 9401_19-78-, in the presence
of the fo l lowing officers :
(1) Shr i A.S. Gill, Addit iona lSecre tary, Deptt. of culture.
(2 ) shri m.N. Deshpande, Directorgenera l, Archaeologica l surveyof India.
(3 ) shri r . sivaramamur t i , FormerDirector , Nat ional Mu se u r .
(4 ) Dr. p . Banerjee, AssistantDirector , Nationa l Museirn.
(5 ) Shri- J.D. mathur , Keeper(L&E)Nationa l muse un
(6 ) Dr. N. R. Banerjee, Director , -National muse um .
Shri K.P. Balakr ishnan, Director
(Es tablishment ) and shri Atish sinh
under secretary, of the ministry of
Externa l Affairs , jo ined later and
le f t before the contents were sea le ,
again .
The box was opened under
t ions of the pr ime minister .
(f) To verify the obse rva t ions made
i n chapter vi ofkshah Nawaz Khan's
Re p or t about the conten ts of the
box.
Etlgr EA
-3-
Q T E S T I o N
(h ) the descr ipt ion of the box, and
o f the met ho d or techniques by which
i t was opened ;
( i) the detai led inventory o f the
contents o f the box;
(i)
II '
, 1 ,
1. r
whether the box i s lying open
with the contents taken ou t or
whe the r the conten ts have be e n
replaced and the bo x re -c losed ;
(k) wh ere the bo x i s no kept ;
(1 ) whether the box and i t s conten ts
are avai lable fo r observa t ion and
inspection by Members o f rar lianent;
and
(m) i f not , the reasons therefor?
tthANSWER
\Pc
(h) The seal o f the cloth bag contain-
ing -t he box was opened and the bag seer
t o conta in a steel suitcase. The suit -
ca se was opened with the key t ied to
the seal o f the Dip lomat ic Ba g.
(1) The box was fo un d t o conta in
Rack age -s - in -yell ow-envel ope
brown paper (c) an a small gunny b-ag
a cloth bag;-- - a l
- V packages , -the contents of it4ter
13-aeifostr.-s- were medals , sings , chains,
watches , ear -rings , pendants , ear -s tud ,
brooches , bangles , f ragments o f stones ,
shirt but tons, signet rings, nose -r ing-,";oce-C41¼
stones iron nail etTeR.
(j) The contents of the box were
placed inside the suitcase and bag, an(
once again sea led with the seal of the
Nat iona l muse t rn.
(k) i n the Nat iona l museun
(1 ) 8, (m) : Th e box has been re -sealed
with the contents and hence they are
no t avai lable for observa t ion and
inspect ion ,
; 1-77 ","774,1T:
TO :t3L
20;', TOTIMAJI SU-37 k" G7Prara POSE
*60. 122:3 4.F. T.7 41N_DilA BriaAlv,;
Will the 2ibh MI-.q6jf.c,R be plea'zed to state;
(a) itether it is a fact that a treasure box belonging to
the President of Arze Muumat-e-S,zad Hind, Hetajd Subhas Chandra
Lose, was brought to India some years ago;
( b) if sol when exactly 2 by whom and in what circumstances;
( where and to whose custody it had been kept since;
(d) whether it was cclened recently°
:ei if so, when exactly, by whom under whose orders;
(f) the reasons for openinT the box;
(g)
opened;
(h) the description of the box, and of the method 0:
tect:nioues by whch.it was orpened;
( the detailed inventory of the contents of the box;
whether the box is lying; open with the contents taken
out or whether the contents have been replaced and the box
re -closed;
(k) where the box is now kept;
(1) whether the box and its contents are available for
observatin and inspection by Members of Parliament; and
0 0 1121_
)1-g - 2
rn) i f not , the reasons therefor?
f I DL; :
nn),: A sta tement i s placed o n th e table o f the Ho use .
61;oz
4
1ENT ',sap .Q.ii J . : 4 E TotBiz. ol.':l'Ag, I-10U64_32.,r_AYSIATEtE Lir.,
.f0 LOX SAEL-Iji STIARRED ..',..UE,S-Zi_gitilc:).:41...19A 22-.11=1.9213 .
(a) Whether i t i s a fact tha t a
treasure box belon ing t o the
President o f Arz e e Hukumat - e-
Azcd Subhas Chandr a
Bo se , ifi s brought t o India some
years a o ;
( b) i f so, when exactly, by
whoi and i n wha t circumstances ;
wher e and t o whose cus tody
i t had be e n kept s ince5
(d) whether i t was openek).
rc,--cently;
(e ) i f so, when exactly, by
who m under whose orders ;
(a) c (b): A box said t o contain
the treasure tha t was salvaged
from the airc raft i n which Netaj i
Su b h a s Chan dra Bose was repor ted
t o have met his death was brought
t o Delhi from Tokyo by a n off ic ia l
o f the Government o f Ind ia under
inst ruct ions fr o m the then Prime
Minister in November 19 52 . I t was
han ded ove r t o him immed ia t e ly on
ar r iva l an d was re ta ined by the
Ministry o f Exi;err..al 1.ffairs
temporar ily.
(c) The box, which i s placed i n
a dip lomatic bag sealed by the
hinistry o f Ex-r , e rna l i.ras
entrusted o n .15th December 1953
t o the : \ la t ionAl - ::ew Delhi,
for safe custody, and has
rema ined wits the National Museum
since then .
(d ) Yes .. ,
(e) & ( g): On 9 th October, 1978 i n
the presance o f the -fo l lowing
Officero
(1) Shri A.S. Gill , AdditionalSecre tary, Dep t . o f Culture .
4
(f) the reasons for oening
the box;
(g) the names of persons who
were 7resent when the box
was o7ened-
(2) Shri Doshpande, DiiectorGeneral, ii.rchaeological ;warveyof India.
(3) hri C. Sivaramamurti, FormerD.1.- ctor, National Museum.
(,jr) Dr. P, 1-.janerjee, -1,ssistan1Director, National Museum.
(5) Shri I.D. Manur, Keeper(LE)7ationa1 iitseum.
(5) Dr. N.L.. Banerjee, Director,National Museum.
3hri E. P. 7alakrishnan, Director
(Estabi hment) and Shri b i h
Sinha, Under Secretary, of the
Ministry of External Lffairs,
joined later and left before the
contents were sealed again.
130:7 was openei under instructions
of the Prime Minister.
(f) '2o verify the observations
made in Chapter VI of Shri Shah
Nawaz Khan's ReDort about the
contents of the box.
(h) the description of the box, (h) The seal of the cloth bag
and of the ,method or techniques containing the box was opened:
by which it .was opened; and the bag seen to contain -a -
steel suitcase. The suitcase
was opened with the key tied to
the seal of the Diplomatic bag.
3/-
- 3 )(i) the detailed inventory of (i.) The box was found to contain
the contents of the box; seventeen packa-:os, the contents
of which were medals, rings, chains,
wrist watches, car -rings, pendants,
ear -studs, brooches, bangles,
fraTmlents of stones, shirt buttons,
Sio;n,,t rings, nose -ring stones,
iron nail ann. other miscellaneous
items almost all of which are in
damaged and charred condition. The
net weight of the articles,
excluding weight of wrappers was
found to be 13491.25 grammes, kn
inventory has boon .prepared.
(j) whether the boz is lying
opcn with the contents taken
out or whether the contents
have boon replacd and the
box re -closed;
(j) The contents of the box
were placed inside the suitcase
and bag, and once again scaled
with the sal of the National
-uUsedm.
(W where the be:: is now kept; (k) In the national Museum.
(1) whether the box and its
contnts are available for
observrttion and in: ction by
Lembers of Parliament; and
(1) & (m): The box has been
re -sealed with the contents
and hence they are not available
for inspection.
(m) if not, the rear.:ons therefor?
Rece ipt o fThe treasurebox i n India
observationso f the shahNswaz Khancommit tee andthe Khoslacommittee .
Starred Que s tio n No.60 i n Lok sabha for 22-11-78
Mater ia l for supplementaries
The question seeks detailed In a s t o whether
A treasure box belonging to Retaj i subha s chandra Rose was
brought t o yndia some years ago and i n what circumstances ,
i t s
and
2.1
was
cus tody since then and whe ttrr the box was recently opened
details thereof .
Tfl 1951 the Head o f the Indian l iaison mission i n Tokyo
cant let ed by some yndians who were assoc iated eith met aji
Subhas chandra Rose . They info rme d him that they were i n
possess ion o f some gold and jewel lery which, they stated, had
been col lected from the pla ne which crashed with Net aj i . The
Head o f the yndian l iaison mission In as also info rme d that in
addit ion t o the gold and jewellery, they were also i n possession
o f yen 20 ,000 (then equiva lent t o es .265 and annas 10 only) .
2.2 on instructions from the then prime minister, the Head
o f the Indian l iaison mission i n Tokyo kept this gold, jewel lery
and cash i n our miss ion until fur ther instructions.
2.3 Aft er the signing of the peace Treaty with japan , these
articles were se nt t o nelhi i n November 1952 through an off icial
of the government of India. They were del ivered t o the ministry
o f external Affa irs , who retained them temporari ly , on necember
30 . 1953 the go ld and jewellery were handed over t o the Nationa l
Museum for sa fe custody. The cash amount ing to Fts.265 and annas
10 was, with the appro va l of the then prime minister, transferre
t o the I i ' eelief Fund on neceraber 16, 19 54 .
3.1 The Net aj i inquiry commit tee under the shah Nawaz '<hart ha
made certain observat ions on the treasure although this was not
one o f the terms o f reference o f the commit tee . chapter 1,4 o f
thq committee's report i s &voted t o this subject . According to
4
primeMinister'sOrders toopen thebox andevaluatecontent s
openingof the boxand evalua-tion ofcontents
one witness before the committee to the box had been tens:tired
with, was much l ighter in weight and less than half full , and
that the valuables remained with shri REffignurthi from 1945 to
1.951 (in T okyo) . According to the committee, i t was far from
clear as to what was collected from the airf ield after the crash
of NetaJies plane, whether there was any subtraction and who
took delivery of the treasure in Tokyo and when, and that i t was
not possible to come to any definite conclusion about the tressur
As mentioned in the preceding paragraph, eventually the treasure
was brought to India and deposited with the National Mumma.
An extract of chapter Na of the committee's report i s attached at
appendix /.
3.2 The G.n. Kbosla committee's observations on this subject
are very brief The valuables scattered in the airf ie ld when th,
plane crashed and sane of the articles were damaged. whatefor
valuables were there were gathered and placed in a box which was
sent to Tokyo along with the casket containing Net eats ashes;
this box was taken charge of by Mr. nanamurthi and handed over to
the Indian mission in Tokyo.
3.3 The shah Nawaz Khan committee had the box containing the
treasure opened and examined the contents twice. According to th4
Committee the estimated value of the contents (then) was Rs.1 lakt
4.1. i n the context of these observations which were brought
to pr ime minister 's not ice, he wished to know whether the treasure
box was still in the National museun and whig the contents and the
value were. Accordingly the Department of culture was asked to hi
the box opened and the contents evaluated.
5.1.1. The sealed diplomatic bag containing the /NA treasure was
opened on 9th october 1978 under instructions of shri A.S. Gill.
Additional secretary. Department of cul ture in the presence of the
1 . shri A.s. Addit ional secretary2 . shr i M.N. Deshpande, nG, Archaeologica l survey of india3. Shri C. sivaramamurti , former Director, National hatusetse4 . nr. P. Ranerjee, Assis tant Director, National museue.5 . Shrl T.R. Mathur, Keeper (L8E), National museum6 . nr. N.R. Ranerjee, Director. National museum.
-.3- )
5.1 .2 shri Ralakrishnan, Director (Fstabli shnent) and
shri Atish sinha , under secretary respectively of the ministry o f
External Affairs jo ined la ter and left before the contents were
sealed aga in.
5.2 .1 The seal of the cloth bag was broken and the bag was
seen t o conta in a stee l suitcase. The sui tcase was thereupon
opened with the key tied to the seal wi th the diplomatic bag and
i t was found t o contain (a) 13 packages i n yel low envelopes , (b) 2
brown paper . (c ) 1 i n a small gunny bag and (d) 1 i n a cloth bag,
making a total of 17 packages . The individual packages had not be
sealed; but the small gunny bag and the smal l cloth bag and 2 brow'
packages bearing nos.2 and 6 respective ly . and 4 yel low envelopes .
bear ing nos.1 .3 .4 and 5 were found t ied simply with a str ing.
5. 2 4 . n the course of the opening , a knob of the handle o f
the box gave way because of the weight of the contents though the
lock anri sea l were intact.
5.2.3. The packages were thereaf ter opened, one af ter another,
i n the ser ial order. They were also photographed i n the course o f
the opening , showing the contents of each bag by shri j .c . Arora,
photographer of the National museun (vibrieyva;Iktutrzotokoktatiti
5.2.4. The dip lomatic bag conta ined a pan American world Airvia'
luggage identif ication tag i n the name o f orDAmi,E* with a rubber st,
t o say wrhis bag weiqhed at Tokyo ,' .
. . . . . . . 4 / - .
5.3 The contents of the pa c kag e s are described below. They
were all found i n damaged condition owing to burning, a s well a s
twisted, somet imes broken , and many o f them formed into limps or
cong lomerate s . Al]. the wrist wa tche s are badly charred. All o f
the materia ls , except the contents of package No.15 are i n charreC
condit ion , obviously due to burning.
Package No.1:
The contents(dmaged) are mostly rings o f gold without
stones and appro xima te ly o f 16 to 22 carat .
turned black.
All the objects have
1 . Ring s and port ions o f Ring s 114
2 . miscel laneous 6
Total: 120
(Total ne tweight 389 .5grams).
Package No.2:
The cont ent s (damaged) are most ly bracelets , i . e . , churis
and Ka ra s, besides
1 . watbhes (completely damaged)
2 . c i r ooc he s , including one i n the shape o f a charkha
3 . pe nda nts
4 . met al s
5 . A l id o f a go lden ca se
6 . Chain o f a necklace i n 2 port ions and (Tota l ne7 . insignificant port ions o f other materials weighton one piece of bangle there were 2 stones fixed. 3.0 5 4 kg
package No.3
The contents ( aged) are :
1 . coins2 . Charm rendants3 . Ba ng le s
4 . discs for necklace5 . r o er part o f A go lden case o f oval shape
6 . nangles 8
7 . i , ! i s ce l laneous pieces8 . 2 pieces coin o f 1942
The contents (dosnaged) include an American gold coin mo ulte d
a s a pendant , a trench 5 francs gold coin mounted a s a button and
one victoria coin o f 1876. (Total net *eight318 grams).
package It3.41.,
The contents (drrnaged) are:
1 . medal showing the etched f igure o f an owl withwings outspread. i t i s damaged and a part o fi t is miss ing.
2 . Ring s
3 . cha in for a wrist watch
4 . pendant with round (ghungru) balls5 . nadr oone d beads o f a male (necklace)
6 . ear - r ings (s tuds)7 . miscel laneous pieces (These comprise 2 gold
pieces . 1 go ld leaf and 4 studs )
8 . Non -gold pieces9 . concavo-convex beads
10. square table shie ld11 . piece o f glass
- 1
- 2.
- 1
- 36
- 33
-
4
2( iota:
net- I *Pig)
318 gt
pac ka 9e No.5:
This package contains a lot of ear -studs, almost Al l with
white settings (pearl s/ chem ical /disaonds) and very few *ith rid
sEttings , though some o f the sett ings are missing, and al l of the m
are dam aged:
T otal :
Rings ( fr agnent s)
(of these 2 rings are with white settings and2 have go t enmeshed into each other)
Packaqe No.6:
The contents (( Imag ed) are :
1 . Non -gold medal -
2 . - ,huris and yaras , mostly broken
3 . modal with a port ion o f chain -
4 . Ea r -r ing s - 2
5 . ear - studs
234(Tota lnetwe ig t
628 gm
-6.
6 . wrist watch (wa tc h strap with watchframe)
7 . crescent -shaped brooch wi th floralf i l igree work i n high rel ief
8 . Tong cha in for pocket watch
piece o f a, r7.hain
10 . miscel laneous
package No.7J
The contents (damaged) are:
1 . Miscellaneous pieces
2 . 5 Franc (F ra nce ) pieces o f 1864
3 . hirt but ton studs4 . rftr-r; tuds
5 . Ear -rings
6 . pendants
7 . Fra gne nts o f objects8 . mos* ring nith e conical f loral stud
c'?- pieces
- 1
-
- I
- ,15
Lackar No. 8
The contents (danagad) ,Nre:
1 . par-studz - 117
2 . Rings ( 2 are fragrented) 5
3 . Fr /trent s o f ornaments 23
4 . stones loose 4
Package Hoeg :
The contents (damaged" are:
I . trr i5ta.WtC h straps
2 . Neck collar3 . Ring s ( 1 with cabochan ruby)
4 . tar - r ings2 (Tota l net5 . Bang les
weight6 . Fine gold strips (one i s i n good 337 .5 9ss)
condition)packer No. 103
The contents (damaged) are :
1 . E A r - - studs - 9 7
2 . Galloping f igure o f ho rse used a sr;harm (copper) - 1
3 . Ring s .' 7(Total nc4 . tAi sce l laneous - 19 weight
5 . Fragments o f stones - 9 419 .7 gm!Total: 1 3 r
(Total nelweight,
1656.5 gm,
(Total newei ght81 2 gee)
(Total neweight
425 .6 gms
pa ckag e No.11The contents (dInag ed) are:I . Ring s (some with stones inc luding blue
sapphire , ruby and diamonds)
2 . screw (non - gold)
3 . Gadrooned beads4 , nesign for a ra t t le - shaped ear -ring
5 . Nose ring6 . Effr stud7 . Far - ring ha nging
Total:
package 4o . 12:
The cont ent s (duaageel)
1 . plain signet rings (some .nith monograsA n d enamel ,rork unse t )
2 . r:hain
3 . miscel laneous (these co mprise )
(1) part o f a cha in
(2 ) ha nging ear - r ings with sett ings(3 ) ,1 car -s tud with stone
(4 ) nose ring with set t ing(5) fragnents o f ornasents
4 . Rings with stones m iss ing5 . Rings set with stones , mostly white
inc luding 1 blue sa pphire old 3 redstones .
Total:
Package no .13 :.
The contents (da laged) are:
1 - miff - l inks ( 1 pair)7. l in i s with white set t ing3 . shirt buttons4 . Ear studs5 . Hanging ear -r ing6 . port ion o f a (-Man7 . Golden ;crew8 . Karna- phoo l
9 . I -wart -shapes; pendant
10. stones11. Gold wire
39
1
1
1
1 (Tota l- 1 net
r Oil ghtitas
. 2g
.
- 11
. 8
(Trigs] .
66 1,11'.11 ,0 _ g
.0 2
- 2
10
0. 1
- 14MID
Olt
06A (Total
net- 1 we ight
40 46 gas)Total :
package No.142The contents (damaged) ar i l s
1 . Hanging ear -rings2 . cylindrica l hol low bead with po inted
spikes for neck3 . Hollow bead -cyl indrica l , with
projections4 . y,00se stones5 . Non -gold metal pieces
411
iMo
d e
9
- 6- 4 (Total net
weight 50.5Total: 21 Cm")
Package No.15:(Ayer , s lot)The contents are:Gold Nuggets (only these are in goodcondit ion i n the whole lot) - 9 (24 carat)
(Tota l netweight 3010,5 g a s )
package No.16:((unny bag)
The contents (damaged) are:1 . paper knife o f copper with handle
gi lded of wayang motif2 . cigarette case of si lver with
14 edges studded with square bluesapphire and rubies engine -turned)
3 . iron nail 164 . nrazing p in - 15 . Lead fr agnent s 36 . mixed metal7 . Lump of severa l medals of tha Azad
Hind rauj bearing the horse andrider motif 11. 2
8 . Non -gold wrist watch strap 29 . Non -gold belt buckle with elephant
moti f - 110 . Golden churl, - 1.11. Mi sce l laneous gold objects 40 21
12 . star - shaped metal non -gold 113. Frame of a wris t .watch - 114 . pinnacle of si lver -
15 . Gilded hol low container resembling (Total neta cigarette l ighter - weight 3493 .2
Total: S T ' grass)16. semi prec ious stones - 7
*Tot al : 58
package No: 17:
(c lo th bags) . (" r
The contents (davaged) are;
.1. Ashes or dust or burnt earth conta ining fragnentsof stones, bones, fragients of ornaments andhinges etc-.
2 . Azad Hind Fauj badges with p ins some bearing - 3( at least 2) the letter ing *Rani jhansi paltano
3 . watches 7
4 . A lump o f 4 watches and a gold r ing .. 5
5 . socket for a watch - 1
6 . portions of a watch strap non -gold - 3
7 . l id o f a round box for sindoor (vermil ion) ofsi lver with a design of panigrahana etched an i twith a F3engali inscr ipt ion read ing chirasukhi
8 . paper knife of copper with handle of wayang motif 1
9 . star -shaped non -gold metal (white metal with aneagle moti f at the top) - 1
10. Table spoon - 1
11 . But ter knife bearing 2 letters i n Japanese. Non-.sta in . ; teel seiki plus the ?lama of the firm i npnglish - 1
12 . si lver buckle with a figure of dancing lady I
11 . Lower part of a square case o f si lver muti la ted .. I
.14. Folding type imall penknife . . 1
15. Handle of a safety razor of Hexagonal crose.section.
16. compa ses - 2
17. Divider
.18. cigarette l ighter (ho l low type) - 2
.19. Blower with three nozzles
20 . Buckles 4
21 . Rim i n the shape of r ing (non -gold) - 1.
22 . unspentt cartridge a.. 1
23. Brass case o f a spent cartr idge - 1
24 . Non-descript fi tting of a f lask 1
25. Non -gold finials 2
26. Rrass coat hook ..
27 . Troll nails - 9(Tol
28. pragnents of gold pieces 5 net29. (1/4 non -gold buckle wi th ensnel work showing weigl
a charkha and 2 flags - 1 966.!Ins)
30. Non -gold metal pieces - 10
Total: 69
5.4 The group which examined the contents of the 17packages was assisted by shr1 su ltan singh packl iwal , an eminentconnoisseur of news and jewel lery and president of the Delhijewellers ' Associa tion and chostd an Assayer. bes ides
Capt. Mathews, security of f icer and Shri Aditya fly.
Keeper prehi 9- t or y .
The contents of the packages, including the packing
materiale , were separately . weighed af ter they were opened by
Shri A'.8 a Stit , chemist and shr i surencira Pal Singh, Chemical
Assis tant of the Nat ional Museum. i t i s observed that thecontents of the package No.16 (gunny bag) end package No'.17(Clo th bag) are mostly non -gold pieces. The golden (non -gold)
art ic les conta ined i n these two packages may be est imatedroughly at o5 .5 .000 /is
Package No.15 (Ayeres lot) conta ined 9 go ld nuggetsweighing 305 grass i n all. The total value of these nuggets0 115.800/«. per 10 grabs for gold of 24 carat approximates to
Rs .24 ,400 or os .25.000 (round figures) .
neduct ing approximately 10% to account for wastageand non..go ld materials, the total weight of the f irst 14 package ,came t o (8732-873) 7859 or 7860 or 7900 grans in round f igures .The cost of 7900 grans at the rate of Rs -.6C0/- per 10 grams o f
18 carat gold (grant ing that 18 carat would approximatelyrepresent the di f f erent varieties of gold , would come t o
Rs.4 .74 ,000/-
B.5 .4 . Thus the tota l valuation would be f ixed approximateli.at r1s .5 ,05,000/ -
5.5 .5 . An accurate valuat ion would require the separat ion
of thc stones from the golden objects , and of the f lux of thealusinim l ike al loy, cleaning of the gold ebjectu, melt ing thewand weighing them together. This does not seem t o be a practice)proposi t ion, as apart from the dif f iculty of separat ing theindividual objects from a conglomerate, i t may not be des irablet o break-up the t.taatents. A realistic assesesent i n the presentcondit ion may not , therefore , be possible.
5.6. . The l ist of packages found in the box tall ies withthe entries in the Access ion negister of the National museum'.
. . . . . . . 1 1 / -
A comparative statement showing the weight of jewellery in the
dif ferent packages as found on inspection on 9th October 1978
and as given by the Duda" mission T y e 7:hen the ticies w ere
rece ived by them as attached at Appendix-IL There are minor
di f ferences between the two sets of weights which could perhaps
be &scribed to the dif ferent weighing machines used with a gap
o f over 27 years. i n regard t o two items the di f ference i s
substantial - in package 2 (charred and broken bangles pins ,
bracelets , buckles etc) 1978 weight i s out 500 grams more than
the Om 1951 weight given by the Indian miss ion , Tokyo, whereas
i n package 17 (metals most ly base and dust ) the 1978 weight i s
nearly 635 grans less than the weight given by the indian Mission
The National museun does not have any record of the 'might of
the items when rece ived by them'.
5.7. The packages were neat ly packed again i n envelopes tied
carefully , plo ced ins ide the box and bag and once again sealed
with the seal of the National museun.
t e p p . e . l e e e e e x
CHAPUD, VI
A flU6,3
LTUOU i n the te rms o f reference o f the Commi t t ee , there wasno mention of the treasure carr ied by Netaj i on his la s t f l igh t ,i n the course o f their examinn t ion a number of wi tnesses spokeo f the treannre. I n feet , in Japan, t o j u ke from newsp aperer t ic les , there 1 4 n $ keen in terest a s t e what happ ened t o thistreasure. In view o f the publ ic in te rest i n the subject, andevidence given before t hcm, the Commit tee feel that some ment ionshould be mede i n th is Lepor t ateut this treasure.
2 . I t wns the in tent ion of Netaj i t o de pe nd a s l i t t l e a spossible on his japenese a l l ie s , and t o Tinence the Indiantat ionel Army from resources col lec ted fr se l Ind ian res idents i n*outheLas t Asia . For th is eurpose, regular collection drives wereT;ide by notaj i his lieutenants , and la rge funds were collec ted.A special co mmi t te e called "Netaj i Rind Coerr i t tee" was establ ishedunder the Il in ts ter o f I leve nue. ::o ld and other valuables wer er_e_nerously dona ted by Indians i n 3outh-Rest Asia . On the occasiono f his Birthday in Jerseery 1145 , Netaji was weiehed against gold . .No t only e h and veluebles, bu t lemovable propert ies used t o bedonn ted , k b i ki b a h i b o f Rangoon ga v e awry a t one t ime al l , h isestate i n lahded property, cash and jewelle ry va lued a t Fsipteesone crore end three lakhs . I n return he asked from Netaj i a pairo f khaki shi r t fI n d shorts , s o teet he might work ibr theIndependence Movement ( 1-'s ee 160 o f Majo r Genera l A.C. Chat terjee 'sbook Ind ia 's 6. truggle for ir eedom) . The Fends o f the Azad HindGoverenent wer e har31 (1 by the Azad Hind Bank. How much o f theliquid assets wer e carried by Netaj i during hie retreat fr om'Rangoon onwerds , I not . precisely known. V.r. Debna t h Das saysthat a t the t ime o f the retreat from Rangoon, treasure valueda t upees one crore, co ree is t ine mostly of ornaments and go ld bars ,1,7r).3 with dra wn fr om the Azad Hind Bank, real taken aeetY pa cked i nl e sma l l epled boxes . General il lonsle says that .Net s. ji ha dbroeght with him t o Bangkok eold ornamen t s and cash pa c ke d i n sixsteel boxes . T11,7: jewellery was a gi f t fro m Indians in south -Eas t
lie did not see the jewel lery, and had no idea of i t s value .Din_annth, Chnir r ean o f the Azad Hind Ban k, who a s in terrogated
by the iL l t i sh Inteil leence so o n after the end o f the war , hadsa id that on the 24 th April 1945 when Netaji l e f t Rangoo n, h e tookwith him from the Tit.l.nk 140 lbs . o f gold . Ac co rd in g t o Pandit :besehunath eherne , one of the leaders o f the Indian In d e pe n d en c eLeaeue t Denek.o1,, Netaji took with him gold and o ther valuables,which were collect d from the people , o f a total value ereceedin.g7.eupees one o ree. That sore valunbles werr carried by Netajiwi th him i s cleer from the evidence, . but fr o m the very s t a r t doubtand discrepancies creep i n a s t o the size and va lue of . thetreneure. Pendit Rne hun nth eherma hes. stated tha t the valuables, kept i n 10 o r 12 steel bo xe s - 13 " X 12" X 10"; some a l i t t l esr:eel:ter than others. Genera] . . t honsle says that the contents o fsix steel boxes we re re -p a cle e d i n t o canvas bags a t the t ime o fNetej is s ileperture. a i t r . Debn ath Dees has said that , beforeleaving JizAngkok, the contents o f the 17 treasure bo xe s mentionedby Mr. Das were re -p ac ke d i n two soesxmaxiaagsnet at it icr ila iso celiia t ia4 ii_xxasT ar kz ixsz lor e suit -cases , 30" t o 36" long. I t i sdoubtfu l whether gold and ornamen t s o f the value of ipees one cro3could be carr ied i n twe laree leather suit -cases . Netaji 's pe rson ;
- 2
valet, Kundan Singh,. was exaeined by the CommiLtee.to him, the treasure was pecked in 4 steel cases of differentsizes - 20" X 13" X 16" and 12" X 6" X6" HO WAS present atthe time When the bo o s were checked before Netaji's departurefrom Bangkok. de says, "The boxes contained articles of jemellewhich nre commonly worn by Indian women such as chains of ladieswatches, leeea,,benglee, bracelets, eerrings, etc* They merm shmostly or Indies.. ere were. also rounds ano guineas. Therewere fortie cheins which had guinea pieces attached to them.There 'were rritall gold wires, isat there were no gold bars ...hr sides there 4 boxes conesining the treasure, Netaji's personaleffeets, and certain other valuable articles which he had broughfrnm 6ingapore, were kept in n small leather attache case. Theecontained 1L gold ciseretto case which was presented to Netaji byHitler." Lt. eunizuka of the Hikari &ikan who was constantlyin touch pith iletaSi mentions thst he uas shown the valuablesthe snmr nisht, aid aerees with Kunden Singh, although he doesnot mention the number of boxes.
3. un his last visit, Netali made heavy paymcnts both at.;inserore end issnekok. His jnpanese 3ccretnry and interpreter,mr. -ays thet befors leasing. einganore, as ordered byNetaji, he withdrew free the jernneae Tank 8 crore yens out ofa lan of 10 ceores irom the jeessese Governsent. it was drawnin -.2, esr seesi , zed -eent in ssentr to I. N. A. srs, civilianpese-onnel. I r. Debnath Uns seya thst on the 17th Aueust, justbefore 1 caving Banst,$)k, Neteji meje large last-minute gifts of11. ticnis to Uhulalengkorn Hospital and University andf.nectioned two to three months' pay to all officers and men ofthe I. A. He adds thet this was not paid out of the treasurebrnusht from Berme, but from the fends of the Thailand IndianInaeeenSkenee Les( uo. the same witness has said that among thebneseee of Cutaji was n Ifrse suitcase containing documents andcurssney. The eJeture of the last hurried days is confused,it is not icroen hey inch Netnji withdrew, how much was spent,ane how much In gold an jewellery he teok with hire Asdoceeents were destroyed to avoid :call in- into Allied hands,reconatruction would be dirties-le. The enly thing that can beseio is that Petaji aisbursed laree aeoents in the finalstases, nae took some velesbles srel orre:eents, etc., with el e
aepnrently old not went to tnke the trensare with himeAccorOinr to the evidence of snruit Re:hunath Sharma, a few dayspreviously g,tali had ensntred of him whether he would takecherse of the trste-mre to which 1-nedit linghunath eharma did notngree. nr. DObrInth 1)0F hes stated that again at 6algon AirfieldNeteji srorosee tnat he 'would leave the treasure behinds ND.Debnqth L)Ps and 'ajor !ieron did not pc!ree to this, rind soNetajl carried the e ,luetlss eith him.
4411 Indian ar..-1 Jspensse eitne es have all desosed clearlyabout U1( treasure in Saigon. ,ne plane eas held up for abouthalf an hour, as the car carrying the 1.0MPS of valuables wasdel ryee. All visne es have ststed that the number of caseswhich e',7 OUt of the see7,.pc (.:ar WPF two and they were hurriedlypushed into the plane, in spite of the protest of the pilot*General iEoda h said thrst Major nasan rushed up to say thatthe two boxen conteinine rrerents to Nek,sji by 3 lakhs ofsneians In eset (I"t çt "rived and so Netnji delayedde: ertare by h-lf u '6.-eir till the bases came. General Isodadid not know 1.7h. t the boxes contained, but from what najoralSpgsai, he !,-veLucr cd that Liley contained gold and jewellery.
-
ertPX_ekA ( 7 1 A z
"
Y i r \ X T ORO, WITArk
' W V ) ,
- 3 - 63'ehele mo e t witnesees eny tha t the bo xe s wer e leather suit -easesabout 20" lone, Ceptein Gulzera 6inge end Col . Pr i tam Singhheve said the t they were weoden bo xe s o f a smelle r size.: \ ccord ine t o Mr. Neeith i l h e vas told by some Hikar i Kika nofi lcers that T iP t a j i t b e inc luded 150 kilos of goldbu n i o n . 7,0e2 o n t o rey t h t rOITIP of th is treaeure accomer e eeee eete ,e i Ville the res t o f i t was l e f t wi th the par ty a ten i o n to meet verlous eeeenses . Be that a s i t may, i t may b eteken ronclesive , that from Seigon t ieteji ca rr iWi. with himtwo leree lee thee eui t-oeses ebou t a)" long containiM go ld andva lue , blere '."jhilP steted before, i t vo ly be discounted tha t
.the value wee snytd?.1utrv: l ike Rupees one crore, there i s noevidence o n record which gives the details o f the contents o fthe sult . . ceees , o r ene indica tion o f thei r velue.
5 . The plane creehed e t 'Teihoku o n the 18th o f Au gu s t .Hebibe r ep hme n ha s sta ted thet he enquired next day a s to
what he pp en ed t o the baege , particularly the two leather suitceees etich conta ined go ld end jevel ldry. He a s to ld tha t theplane complete ly burnt , and with i t the lugeage , but some&erred jewellery had been se lvaged, and kept i n safe cut itodY2 t the e n e t ee e eeedquer ters . The collect ion was done under t hsupereleion o f teo Jepenese Officers, Yajor K. Ziakai l Officeri n cheree o f the ae rod rome defence, and Oeptain Nakamura aliaseeepeo to , officer i n cherge o f the ec ro d ro me . Ac co rd in g t oMrOcr when h e came t o the scene two hours after theeccident , he fo r e&let ;ep t ain. Nakamura 'and his men col lect ingnrt ic les. lying On7t r le ground . As their =cher was insufficienth e lent 30 o f his men. Cap ta in Neksmura , o n the other hand ,say that o n being asked by Lt . Col . t ioncgait i, . h e asked his nort o collect the veluabl es . d e came and found ; lajor Seka i i s menunder one Lt. . Yereshide doing the collect ion. Bothhovever , agree that cher red and bleekened jewellery such a sneeklecece ritees , &Is is , etc . , wer e collected. Th e se were puti n e n 18 -li t re gesolene cen t tne top o f which was sea led by.reant o f str ipe o f pape r on which the ° f a c e r s placed their owr
eels . About the subsequent disposnl , there i s a s l i eh t discre-pency. Accord ing t o I:, joy ' r71: 1" the cen of veluebles was keptonly one nleht under guard, an d delivered the next da y t o Lt.Col. 6hi1uya n t the Hendquerter s. Un the other hand CaptainNaltsayseereresays t h n ie t the c a was kept for 4 o r 5 days n the air-raid she lZ.e r unde r guard, end thereefter del ivered t o Lt., Col.-,- On the 5th o f Septmber , Lol . Habibu r Eehman wasflovn t o Tekyo . it iit h him vent Lt. T. eekai and Lt. Hayash idawho ha d been detai led by the Army deedquerte rs . Formosa, t ocarry wi th them Vetej i ts eehes end his valuables. Major Sakaiand Neketzrare a l a s Yaeamoto have both spoken o f a n18 -li t re Fnro l i enc .een . Lt. Col. t ihituya , Staff Officer o f theheedquarters , also ment ions the e n . Lt. C a . Sakai and- tt ,
t i eyesh ida who speak of . a wooden box .
The bee o f velusbles was del ivered o n the eveni% ofthe 7th eep te -,be r a t the Leper ia l Genera Headquarte rs , To kyo .The. Linty Officer , t l e jor .±-).0 f i r s t received i t , madeever cheege next me rnin e t o Lt. Takakura . Both say - tha tthe hex wee e weeeien box nelled down but not sea led. How ase.E,led geso lone c!.el c ,:-eeld become a neiled wooden box i s notcleer . Aceord lee t o Lt. Col . Tekeleara , o n the 8th Se p te mb e reorning h e 01one:a 1.1'. I l a l r e n u r t i who cane wi th Mr. Ayer and teok
Mr. Raeamurt icheree le, t h o f Nete j i l s 7nd veluables.
4
VIM i t
snys t 1.1 p_t tun o r three days after his arrival i n To.kyo ( that you)be Lb o r 10 th :cp t s r .her ) Col , labibur kiehman.aSked him to br in f
o f valurI llev, and Vas. htv,miarti accord in l y went andh t i t frc,n the irr-poria l 6enera1 Headquar ter s . The box was
heavy !nodes be , rnd P .zror ter Igns ta ,pgou t o carry i t . Col.HIlbibur ichmnn sayr tImt r fe w da/:". after his Arriva l i n Tokyo ,t . ' , essrs. were called t o the Imperia l Genera lHeadcoar ter s a.y.d the box conta ining the va luables WAS handed overt o them. t':r. J . h r t i corrobora tes 10..F, brother . Mr. Ayer doesno t rn7 the b , y..wtts rf2 c e ive d , but indica tes that i n thei i -t w.r-r!.: Thr;.;r.-,11, pr h e ch a n c e d up on 6- 'l . hehman, Mr. Ramamurtand Mr. J . f lurf t clean in3 ' nnd sort im; out the charred jewelle ryi n the hon:-;e h e and Gol. Habil ,nr hehman we re occupying. Thereare fr iajo r discr i:pencies a s t o the ( t a t e , and the received the box,
lir murt i says that ( ; el . l i a L ib u r Itehman satisfied him&that the box .Tras indeed the sr.,:re b that 'had been pecked beforehim a t Trlh-1t.11 1 Col. bihu hcAp;rin Ula t the reals o f theboy , r t -4 i t ri;Te..nred t o have been t a pered t 'T i t h was !Dudl i , tcr a.rvl only h. -11 fu l l . the con ten ts , r e ibund t o b eornorentr p r , st . ,nes, a l l charred, TriNed and1'.i CC f -n,1 s!nall., bi ts iron the wreckage . ihey we rerour:.-hiy (r- t in to Lhr ce o p.( c;or(i.i i t o whettiCT t h ycont , ,A1.7, d hare ie tal. i t ; r rwr i rd s they wer ein to a 1:117. nallsd . the ,.4e ight o f the vpa tuableS was found t obe 1 1 1:111;rr rt !s . i s w.ns no t,ed t ?and s rough l i s t was made and
!iehman, a. photosta t copy o i which i sI) . oj . eliman l e f t the Valuables i n the
charre b e handed over t o any authority wnichercy7e 171 r ,: t ccfns i. on t o l e t a j i t s Movement . At the swoet ime, , Er. flyer left n00 1?atras o f gold and 211.1000 yens i n cq sh
t b 7.7 1,1,r t h S .1 . 71 .1 ,?1 " d i r e c t i o n . They did th is i norder t o avoid the valuable 7,roperties from betni-; canfiscntedby the tiri.in71!.
7 . ur t r t valuables r:Jith him iron 1:)45 t o 19 5 1 .c,id not money i n a D P . n k , When asked, he st iV
h e Aid t 'l ts so Vint the l ' i e e !upa t ion authorities, wile vrould know c' th t'.7 -7 - , :.7., ro.? L nk , rni l i t not 'confisca te the vnluabler
Re did !ro t take f;,.ny t o contact tiny Indian authori t iesy !-, :xv. i n fr e t , there if:: reason t o bel ieve thr
he d e n i f ' d 11 r V i r l , 7 thr trepoire vi th hun. lie made no at tempt t othcz Er i i f . :7 1 o l t i n i'okyo . h e f,sYs tha t h e wes
I n corrar.. r.fhiciet!ce with ill-. AysT arid the la t t e r had advised himnet : 1n prr , ;c t i.o r , t i l l the connec ted matter o f Netnit 'sashes 1=Trs t i s1 '7v. : t er t ly saved . Lr. i4yer cave t o japan i n 1. 5.3and i t N.*y ') - c - 2 y {. 1 14r . 1c u r t i Acknovic:rdP.:ed that thetrsasure vi th him, an d e) lp rese e d will ine ;ness t o hand over thesr.me Irraia.r . i n tekyn . tie ..,et i t ted t itnt b e had part lyfInnnced Er . Ayer ' ' t r i r t o Ja- n . On h i return t o India, Mr..A..yer net the tr inieter , and sugges ted that the treasuremir :ht b e t r l :en ,wcr by the in: ilia Government throu h the Indianla t , r5i n i n ic,:<:_yro. The 1-T12,1e Lir liFter t-,grced tic) thi 'na , onin s t r lY.e t ion fr n; r him, the treasure r.::!as tak .en ove r by the Indian
rtn the 2.4th . ep te mb e r 3961, The Firs t L;ec re ta ry o f theTrivefIrl. sl imed the receipt o n the copy o f the
5/1.
l i a t made ove r by Col. Rehman t o Pr. Lemaeur t i i n 1945. '. 0n theFeeee liamemur t i also handed over 300 gr ams o f gold and2/3,000 yens ehich had been l e f t with him by ar . Ayer. Thevelnebles 1.4ere eg i n ch e c ke d an d weighed by the Indian Miss ionr.nd the weight wen found t o be a l i t t l e -- mo re Ulla no ted i n Col .1,et ran. ' or i i i ] j c t . .
S . ehe valuebles \,:ere brought t o India and ha ve be e n kepti n the Nat1rna.1.. eui t Rashtrarat i Bhavan. As Ilent ioned , theCommittce inspected these valuables a t the MuSetlint, Their es t i -7i l t e4 value 1.r :Rupees one lakh. The etuseetm was inspec ted .anti on the occasion the Committee went along with Kundan.-eerveh,_ Note.) s personal valet . As already mentioned in Chapter
Yom;:lrat 61n-,11 ident ified a number o f ar t ic les a s belongirg t eNetej i . Th e : : - I r t ic le s fo un d i n the Ieueeum were jewelle ry, andtrenkete o f the. ' , e ine, which different witnesses ha ve tes t if ied ELF
ereaji from the Indian public i n -.e t t h- fees t Asia. and .Which h e C iT iOd with him on his la s t journey. I t i s evidentthat the cherred and deeneed pieces o f gold and jewellery, e tc . ,vhieh are i n the :Te t ionel Museum, fo r med pert of Netaj i le bag7oge
n hia i fee ,-, journey, Veich vee seaveeed from Ta ih o ku Airf ieldan e in te r recovered f r r i . Thrt i . I t i e aleo see tha t what
mr,doc"1, over by i . t r t i i n re51 ta ll ied with the l i s t s ignedby Lee). I I. u r Le111- ,n 1245. Bu t i t i s not c3.ear how much ye scerrted by Ile ta j i 5 ; A n d how I i n ch o f i t was recever ed . Two sui tecesee i n ehich l e t e j i took the valuables were no t weighed . We*neve only the evidence o e witneeses ' tent they we re fa i r ly heavy .Only 0 w' witnese , Lt. Col. lonogeki, has mentioned the weight a s20 kilos e oh . nly 1 1 klloerams o f burnt -down jewellery mired
h bLse meta l nd ashes ha d be en recovered . Quite cleerly, thrquant i ty t h t has been recovered 1?:..; much less than what e te j icarried with hire There ere n leree rumber o f ee.pe on discre.rend . os i n the ch ire i t i s , no t cleer wh e th e r the plena waseo reoned off immedin tely eft ,:e the crash , and the collection o fveleeblen beeue under prope r supervis ion . After i t wa s C0 1 1 antedthere i s discreenncy ns t o -whether it was l e f t for some days i n
ai r-rei t l shelter , o r taken nex t e lo rn ime t o h e JapaneseElli tery I leadquer ter s Ta ihoku . Thore i t o theconte iner, any i t wa s a arolene can., while others e Vthet i t was weoden boy. I f the easelene can was orieinallyf l i l n l ond s r led, there i s no evidence t o show who opened i t , anwhy, end ee l the contents nen in i n a od e n bo x. Zile wooden boatthat was ha nd ed over i n Tokyo t o lir . Peente lur t i was not sea led, buonly nailed. whereas ajor TAekura says that he handed over thebo e t o Mr. Ihrti rind eyer along with the ashes , n r . iik ir t i sayt h t e.).ray he lees skeel to come an d t o the box o f valuables afew days efter tekine delivery of the ashes. C .o l nehy n sayst h ane t tereers. Ayor d -1-1.1rti went and brought the boy- fro m theinrer iol Genere i 'le aden e r te ree eecording t o Mr. Ayer , h e wasnot cal led , but Ca r t i c a s i f by accident , while Mr. Mart i, hisbrother, and Col . Lehman wer e eleanine end no rt i rw , out brokeneieeee o f Preellere. No receipt vms taken o r liVen- by the GeneraHeedquer te re . While t'lre ie i rt i says thst Col . Eehman WEIS se t i s f icthet the bee wee i n the snme o r o r a s he hod 1. i t i n Taihoeeueoe . rt says Vin t the boe areeered t o him t o have beente rperee i t t h mil (7.1-1 liebte r i n 'e igh t , end less than hal f
6/ . .
'i.k) i i . 1 i r irr)T) 0.1 .1r 17s to wh,=.t wRs collec ted. frOm Taiho lt u10.r1 1010, v Ah .er nd rhnn the container vas ehp,nged, wh ethe r
rtny frAi r;:e T1, and .,.-Tho took de3.1very o r i t i nfr om the nvi r ie nee aval leble- t o uf: , i t i s rot
e t o come t o any -defini tP conelns ion abou t the t rea ,sure.I t i t C d derirr t l .e t o -o mo re el. o r t e ly in to theroatt,..?r, be nner137ary 127) 3,nst i tu te n enpwra to enqu iry, -10.tciso. $icorn mi:,.ht well ineiude no t only the treas t ire that waselxvt 0. hi Netpii n his i t jo ll rney qn.A it recovery bu t91 e : the enmire et s rind l i b i I i t i , i n cashenkj. r j i f O f t h e i l * O V:1 : i r t r i . t -i l i ' , io v e r r v r , e n t o f I t i s ,
'pot dei-tai }.1 7: !IT I-11C -h I n enquiry izt:ni, b eIT) i ar t , r t iii 1 p e 0 1: t ime. . ?.tp eel al y when su c h
rect:asil.f4, A S br,ve tr'(;7! 1 ,17.7ely t r ,
To
Sri Ram Murti,
LITokyo 15)1.1/45
I am leaving with you three hundred (300M grammes
of gold and yen twenty thousand. At a proper time and place,
kindly han6 over to the competent national authority which
will unaoubtedly one duy come into existence to hAndie affairs
arising as a sequel to the movement for India's Independence
led by Nc?taji Subhash Chandra rose in East t.sia. The gold is
in fact as I brought it from Saigon. Th cash is balance
after changing piastre into yen and meeting my expenses during
my stay in Japan since August 22, 1945. The total in piastre
and the exchange rate are shown in the bank slips.
3.A.Ayer25/11/45
1.; To
-
t r i Etari ur t Ichnir.-IfinIIIL, Territorial Committee,
rJ rcr
j ai Rind.
am lcavinz with you the follouing vantIty of gold
yhich sllvned at Taiwan Formosa after thn fateful air
accident as a result of Which Netaji aubhash ehandra Bose
expired P t .00 1).11. on 10.8.46 in the hospital.
1. Comraratively pure gold ig. gms.In tun wooden boxes and 7a pnprr wrapprr
Yeight includes weightof r.old and oden boxes)
2. One racket - Gold Kv gms.7,1:t!ed with worthles 3 - 100
._m c l liron etc.(';4e1lht includes weightof gold, metal iron etc.and paper wrapper)
iiflCr this gold is mixed with othnr ,letals, etc.
;m1.:11r, carrot be ar,sesrled at present. However, At a later
ii t e tbp nrTnn5)--ent for gettin7, the vivification of gold
may p1en,.1e be nade.
3. It irz recreated that this gold mny please be handed
ever to 1 competent Indinn mathority who may be dealing with
the affaiis or the Inedan Independence movement led by Netaji
nbhnnh Chanflra :)7.0 in Lfv7t Asia.
jai
461- ilabibur beh-aans
Package 1
.,, e 2
Package 3
Pa c ka ge 4
Package 5
Packa o
Package 7
Package (3
Package
Package 10
Package 1 1
Package 1 2
Package 1 3
Package 14
Package 1 5
Package 1 6
Package 17
'Weight indicatedby Indian 14iss ioni n To kyo .
1.24..nua951)
400 gra ms
2 kgs. 5E0 gr ams
323 graros
325 gr ams
700 gra ms
1 kg. 700 gra ms
825 grams
425 gra ms
320 gr s
425 grams
105 gra ms
200 grams
E.0 grams
50 grams
300 grams
3.500 kgs.
1.600 kgs.
*
APPIODIXpIi
Weight foundo n Inspect ionon 9.10.1978
399 .6 grams
ne054 kgs.
313 gra ms
31a grams
(328 grams
1656 .5 grIms
812. g r ains
425.6 gr ams
307.5 grams
419.7 grams
101 grams
205.0 gr ams
4 6 g r ams
50. 5 grams
300 .5 grams
3493 .2 grams
96615 grams
0
1 , 4 c A . . . ) 3 A . . . ) J .. , 0116.1 A l
''c17) 'e\3 [tar 4,xTrrzi, It.faml-tt SECRET
K. Ba lakr ishn k_YtAIIISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS
Director (Establishment) NEW DIELH14 i
L - - - -
No.25/4/NaO/Vol.III 21st November 1978
Subject: Advance Notice for Rajya Sabha StarredQuestion D.No.40P regarding Netsji andINA Treasure
Dear Shri Sreeraman,
As desired by you, I am enclosing a notegiving further information relating to the handingover of the "Treasure" to our Mission in Tokyo, itsdespatch to Delhi, safe custody in the Ministry ofExternal Affairs and handing over to the NationalMuseum. The information is based on our files onthe subject.
Shrl N.3. Sreeraman,Private Secretary to the
Prime Minister,P.M.'s Office,gEWDELUI.
Eric: As above
Yours sincerely,
0 c-o----\,-----A--(1C.1).
'
SECR7T
Ministry of External Affairs
Shri S.A. Ayer, Director of Publicity, Governmentof Bombay, visited Japan in May 1951 and met Shri K.K. ChettHead of the Indian Liaison Mission, Tokyo. Shri Ayerwas staying with Shri Ramamurti. Both of them wereconnected with Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. Shri Ayerproposed that the gold and jewellery which had beencollected from the plane in which Netaji met hisdeath should be sent to the Government of India fordisposal. On Prime Minister's instructions, Shri Chetturwas asked in September 1951 to take possession of thegold and jewellery which was in Shri Ramamurti'spossession and keep it in the Mission until furtherinstructions. Accordingly, the articles were takenpo:;session of on 24th September 1951; the receiptwas signed by Shri V.C. Trivedi, the then First Secretaryof the Mission. Before taking over, the valuables wereweighed and a list of contents prepare. A copy of thelist is enclosed.
P. In October 1952 it was enquired of ourAmbassador whether the above articles could be broughtover to India; since our Treaty of Peace with Japanhad come into force, this should be/comparatively /aeasy matter. Mission proposed to send these withShri Damle, Joint Secretary, Agrialture Ministrywho was returning to India on 7.11.52. As his flightwas delayed, Shri Damle reached Delhi only on thenight of 11.11.52, by a PAN AM Airways flight. Thebox containing the valuables was taken over for safecustody by the then Joint Secretary (Administration)In the Ministry of External Affairs Shri Harishwmr Dayalon 12.11.1952. A note on file indicates that the box"has been sealed and kept in double locked safe of theTreasurer of the Ministry of External Affairs".
3. In a minute recorded on 2.12.53, thePrime Minister instructed that the valuables shouldbe kept carefully and that "all relics of Shri SubhasChandra Bose should be carefully preserved in propercases". The Ministry of Education then proposed on7.12.1953 that the "treasure", locked in a box andsealed, should be deposited in the National Museum.On 30.12.53, the box containing the "treasure" asper list on the file was opened and the contentschecked and thereafter re -locked and re -sealed withthe N.G.O. seal of the Ministry of External Affairs,and handed over along with the key to Mr. JO% Roy,Superintendent, National Museum, in the presence ofMr. A.C. Banerji of the National Museum. This notehas been signed by Shri Devi Diyal, then DeputySecretary in the Ministry of External Affairs, as well:as by Shri J.K. Roy and Shri A.C. Banerji. The sumof Y.20,000/- (Rupees 265-10) was,handed over to the
y-
2 2- .ceo-Aizt
All India Congress Committee, New Delhi, on 1642.1954vide their receipt No.901, for transfer to I.N.A.Relief Fund.
I M F
e,L-Lszt"
LIST OF ITFMS TAKEN FROM MR. RAM MURTY BY THEINDIA, TOKYO ON 24.9.1951 Am HANDED OVER TO
NATIONAL MUSEUM, NEW DELHI on 30.12,1953.:o0o:-
BUNDIRE I
Ptickage
'MarredPackage
CharredPackage
Charred
medals,
Package 4
CharredPackage
Charred ear -rings, nose -rings,
Package 6
Charred and broken bangles andPAckage 7
Charred
Package
Charrea
EMBASSY OFTHE
rings and pendants 400 grams
2and broken bangles, pins, buckles etc. 2 kgs. 560 grams
2and broken bangles, pendants, snuff box
coins and rings
necklance pieces,5
325 grams
medals and rings 325 grams
,)
(2-1-1 Ice',
mostly with stones 700 grams
anklets 1 kg. 700 grams
and broken rings, noserings and pendants 825 grams
8
rings and nose -rings 4.25 grams
Package 9Charred necklace, bangles, broaches & nose rings 320
Pankagt 10
Charred ear -rings with stones an'd rings
Packflee 11Charred rings
Package 12
Charred rings and chain
Package 13
Charred rings and buttons
Package 14Charred ear pendants 52 grams
8.410
grams
BUNDLE II
Charred gold mixed with molten metal,
BUNDLE III
Metal, mostly base and dusts i r ,
(1) 9 Pieces of gold s 300 grams
425 grams
105 grams
200 grams
50 grams
iron etc. 3.500
1.600
r) -N
bAk
11
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Ns, SreeramanPrivate Secretary tothe Prime Minister
4 1V l e A V r .,
.4 IV
No.2(64)/78-PM
Donr ihrj Bandyopadhyay,
December 4, 1978
Please refer to your D.O. No.21/52/78.al
regarding the Rajya Sabha question answerd as
unstarrea No.632 on the subject of ENTA treasure.
As desired by you, a copy of the answer
Riven to the Question on 30-11-78 is enclosed
for your record.
f t
Yours sincerely,
-PSreeraman)
art b. Bandyopsdbyay,Deputy -.1ecretary,Ministry of 1oe Affflirs,New Delhi.
MOST IMMEDIth!SNr)-18X-ZET NAMD MOTION
Ministry of h;ducation a 'ocial WelfareParliament Unit
bject: Lk ,;abha No -Day -Yet Named Motion (No.246)regardigg treasure of Azad Hind Governmentof Netaji Cubhash Chandra Bose.
It is understood that Prime Minster's Officehas answered two Questions in the Parliament on theabove mentioned subject. Therefore, the LOX JabhaNo -Day -Yet namel Motion o. 246 regarding treasure ofAzad Iiind Government of Netnj1:6ubhash Chandra Bosemay si.Lidly :be dealt with by them.. i)epartment ofiarliamentary Affairs U.:..).No.?.15(1)/78-Leg. datedGth Jecember, 1978, is sent herewith for necessaryaction.
(1.1J.Aamchandani)Deputy Jecretary
Prime Minister!gi Office 0.ihri N.j.,)ragna ig, 66,.to P.M
"Ait 4") ;r 4 -4.-- M of ducat on w U.O.No.j..11017/1/78-PU, dt.7.12.78
, 2. it is requested that Department of ParliamentnryAffnirs may kindly he informed of the acceptance ofthe above motion under intimation to this Ministry.t L
3 .. .
l' 4$ A1C
- 111 )-----
i;
>-
Subject:- Lok Sabha No-Day-Y Motionet -Named (:q0. 246)n:garding
treasure of Azad Hind. Government of Netaji SdbhasChandra Bose.
217'D IATE
DEPARTMENT OF PARLDAMENTARY AFFAIRS
The foljowing motion given notice of -by Prof. Samar Gu:na.has been admitted by 1:.eaker undr Rule 189 0=
tiie Rules of Procedure and -Conduct of 3usiness in -Lok Sabha:-
"That this House do consider the facts and matters relatingto the missing treasure of the Azad Hindf Government ofNetaji Sulphas Chandra Bose."
.The Ministry/Ppartment, of -,Zducation and Social Welfare AvkC_may kindly see and advise if they have any objection to this motionbeing set down for di,scussion in the currentlensilitIg session ofthe Lok Sabha, In case the discussion is not acceptable to theMinistry/Department, they may kirldly convey the reasons thereforwithin one week of the receipt of this note failing which it will bepresumed that the Ministry/De.Par t have no objection. Time willbe provided for the discussion on one,of-the question days of theMinistry subject to exigencies pf,other, Government Business.
This may kindly be treated as_IMMEDIATS
(P.-V.Pe,suUnder Secretary
/
/fhe Ministry/Dcpartmcnt of Education and Social Welfare and Culturesec __
DPA U.O.No. ?.19P( I )/18 -Leg., dated the 6.12.1978
, .
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' f it5 TO MO '40 9 1 C ö 4110 1'51 1/1 8- 119 7 1-6 73
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PRIVE YINIbT-FAIS OFFI.CE
Subject :- Lok Sabha No -Day -Yet -Named Ivo tion(N0 .24 6)regarding t i6 a su re o f Azad Hind Go ve rn me ntof ' Netaj i Su b ha s Chandra Bose.
e t? .s,
The Ministry o f Educa t ion & Social Welfare have
forwarded t o u s the De pa r tmen t o f P3az2-1. .Affairs u.o.No.F.15(1) /
78 -Le g. dated the 6.12 .78 on the ab ove subjec t and have
reques ted u s t o deal with i t .
I n t h i s connec t ion , the at tent ion o f the Deptt .
of p!vi-. Affai rs i s invited t o the deta iled answer given b y
the Prime Winiste r i n the Lo k Sabha t o Starred Ques t ion No.60
o n the 22 nd Nove mber 19 78 which covers almost a l l aspects o f
the i s sue . This subjec t has also be e n to uc he d u p i n the
Repor t s o f the Net au i Rnqui ry Commi t t ee unde r * the ;Chairmanship
o f Shri shah Nawaz Khan and the Justice Thosla Commi ssi on o f
tenquiry. Go v6 rnmen t have no other informat ion o n th i s subject .
I t i s , ' t he re fore , considered tha t no useful purpose -
wo u l d b e served b y having the issue discussed through a
mot ion, and we would sugges t tha t the motion b e not set down
f o r discuss ion i n the Lo k Sabha.
P S ( S )
devDprt t . o f Pan . Affa ir s (Shr i P .V .Pasupa thy - .)TY! s Office u . o . NQ,4-2_(.6"/.07g---7717 dated: / 2,
CA4H e eVaL C44-rf.4.;
Co py fo r ar c ie d to mini r - -W L cum%-dLluu K 5W(Shrj T.T T .R anc han dan i , f ly. secy) in i t h reference
" A t r t t I 1 I n 1 . 7 i t h o s e , . . . _, , , L) n . t i . i f i ts -Tv dated 7-12-78
DI ( Sr cer am n)If PS t o R v i
i dvA)
,- _' 1 ( )1' f clr
tt
6717e91.-
Dear Shri Subramaniam Swamy, ecF/4In August you had Written to the
Prime Minister about the treasure reported tohave been salvaged from the aircraft in whichNetaji Subhash Chandra Bose is alleged to havemet his death. We have consulted Shri Damleandfhis reply is as follows:.
In November 1952 he returned to Indiafrom Tokyo where he had gone on an officialbusiness. Dr. Abdul Roof Vas our Ambassador inTokyo and at the airport he gave a steel attachecase which was sealed and told Mr. Damle to deliverit to Panditji. On arrival at the airport at Palmahe was met by Shri :Mt. Nehru but Shri Damle toldhim that the parcel would be delivered to Panditlias desired by the Ambassador. Shri Damle accordinglytook the parcel to the then Prime Minister where itwas opened by him in his presence. The -contentswere charred jewellery Which was covered withsoot. After having delivered it, Shri Damle tookleave and left.
As you are probably aware, the PrimeMinister had the box which was deposited in theNntional Museum opened and its contents verified.The box has been re -sealed and is in the custodyof the National Museum.
With kind regards,
Yours sincerely,
GLIP(v. shankar)
Dr. Subramaniam Swamy, M.P.,22, Rajendra Proad Road,NJ i DUTII-110001.
I4
1.7+
Subject;... INA TREASURE.
As desired by the Principal Secretary to the
Prime Minister, a copy of the detailed note on the
0 prepared in this Ministry is sent
herevith.
( K.P.Bslakrishnan.)Director (Estblishment)
Fri= Minister,is Secretariat ( skt.....A
MEA U.O.N0.25/4/NGO0VOL.III Dt.21.12.1978
4".)1^P4i1 it:114. #44+0
SECRET.
INA '121.L;seStilifi;
There is a large degree of uncertainty regarding the
e e r ly history of the "INA Treasure" from the time Net aji
Subhash Chandra Bose left Rangoon in April 1945, carrying Ck i
number of valuables with, him to the time that certain valuables
yere handed over to the Indian Liaison Mission in Tokyo on
24th e,eptember, 19 51 by Shri Ram Murthy, one of Netaji's
f orrer as-ociates Neta ji had received si2eahle donations
from Indian residents in South East Asia, in the form of cash
and velthl)les for financing the ,INA. On the occasion of his
birthday in January 1945" he How much
o f the l iquid assets were carried b y Netaji during his retreat
from ,Rengoon onwards cannot be ascertained precisely, as was
noted by the lietayi Enquiry Committee in 1956. Witnesses
examined by the Committee gave widely di f fer ing versions of the
contents and the value of the tre-sure carried by Netaji.
Apart from differing vers ions wi th regard to the number of boxes
the effesct that Netaj i had taken 140 lb s . of g 1 wi th him and
tha t of another who es timated the valuables carried a t Rs .1 crore
hose testimony received some independent corrobora-
tion by a Japanese witness Neteji' s personal valet who was
p are nt 1 y present at the time -1-hen the boxes containing the
velur bles iere &relied before Netaji' s departure from Bangkok
in August 194 .5 .
Ca es hich contained articles of je, e l l e ry commonly wo rn b y
Indian omen, Pounds and Guineas and some gold wires. In
addition to those, four boxes, there was also a small leather
2/-
rAnerionalF rerffects and.,certalnther
T 111 able
*ND IMO
attachr, c' se containing Netajilolarticles he had brought from g
Siognpore. The Netaji Enquiry Committee found that during hi's' ,
last visit to Singapore and Bangkok, Netaji had disbursed large
amounts. The Committee was unable to get any accurate picture
of -hat Netaji carried with him at the time of his departure
from Bangkok but contended that some valuables such as ornaments
/ere certainly c rried by him. The Committee also found it
difficult to reconstruct the events as relevant documents hadin
been dectroyed to void felling/to the Allied hands. Some '
, itnessolavd testified that heLaji vas not keen on taking the.
it anted to leaveLin Bangkok or Saigon
but since Artic11,mL- as -illing to take charge of it, he carried the
valuables lith him.
e A number of -intnesses had testified to seeing the boxes
containing the treasure at the Saigon Airfield just before
Nets ji s out,ard flight in the afternoon of 17th August 1945.
While, here, again there are widely differing versions, the
Committee has taken as conclusive the fact that ,Netaji carried
from Saigon vith him "tag() large leather suit -cases about 30"
long containing gold and valuables. While the committee could
not get any estimates of the value of the contents of the suit-
csses, the feeling , as that it could not 4- anywhere near the
Rs .1 crore mentioned by one vitness.
3. After the plane crash at Taihoku on the 18th August, ,-
Col.H.zabibur Rahman had enquired tht next day. from Japanese -(
officers as to that had happened to the baggage, particularly
the two leather suit -cases containing valuables. 'He vas told
that, while much of the baggage had been burnt, some charred
je-ellery had been selvaged from the ground and kept in safe
cueody at the Military Headquarters. The Committee found that
3/-.
- 3
there 1,J,cs some discrepancy in the accounts given by t* Japanese
officers who took TrIrt in this opertion, while one of them state
thnt the valuables, which ,ere sealed in a gasoline can, had .been
kept under guard for only one night in the airfield before
delivery to Military Headquarters, another wintess stated that
it had been kept for four or five days in the air-raid shelter
under guard before elivery to Headquarters. It is, however,
certain that the valuables vere delivered .to the Imperial
General Headquarter, Tokyo, on 7th September, lne Officers
who took chrge of these as i,ell as Col.Habibur Rahman mentioned
that the valuables ,ere in a,nailed wooden box which was not
sealbd; this is a departure from the earlier accounts which .
mentioned a sealed gaseoline can. It would appear that on 9th
or 10th September the box containing valuables 1 -as taken charge
of by Shri Ram Murthy from the Imperial General Headquarters,
Shri Ayer , as possibly present. The Committee found some
discrer)ancy in the statements of Dol.Habibur Rahman, Shri Ram
Murthy and Shri Ayer in regnrd to the circumstances surrounding
the handing over the boy at the Headquarters, in particular the
discrepancies related to the date of delivery and who took charge
of the box. According to Col.Habibur Rahman, the seals of the
box containing the valuables 1,ere found to be broken at the time
of delivery; further it appeared to have been tampered with and
was much lighter and only half full. The contents were found
to be orn-ments of fold and jeiellery, all charred, miyed and
fused 1.,1th metals and small nits from the wreckage. They uere'
roughly L separated into three lots according to whether they contained
more gold or base metal. Afterwards, they were re -packed in a
box and nailed. The 1,,uht of the valuables was found to be
....... . 4/-
Icharge ofka.trr
Igurthy to behanded overto any
11 kgs. Thiq ,.as noted and a rough list was made and signed
by Col.Habibur Rahman. A photocopy of the note is available.,
Co1.R-hman left the valuables in theLputhority which arose in
India in succession to Netaji's movements. At the same time,
Shri Aynr left 300 Ems. of gad and 20,000 Yens in cash with
Shri Ram Vurthy 1,1th similar direction. The list prepared
by
i)
Col.tabibur Rahman is as follows:
Comparatively pure gold in two,00den boxes and paper wrapper(weight includes wieght of goldand wooden boxes
ii)One pccket of gold mixed withhtmolten metal liron etc_!.(weightinc1udes weight of gOld,metaliron etc.the paper wrapper)
7 Kg.. 900, gm.
3 Kgs.100 gms.
Total 11 Kgs.
4. Shri Ram Nurthy kept the valuables and 'cash with him
from 1945 to 1951; it as not kept in a bank as he feared that
it might be confiscated by the Occupation authorities. He -
also did not take any steps to contact any Indian authorities
during all these years. The Committee found reason to believe
that he denied having the treasure with him; according to
Shri Ram Murthy, Shri Ayer had advised him not to take any
action till the connected 'natters of Netajils a s was
satisfactorily solved. During: this period there were allegati(
against Shri Ram I4urthy in regard to misappropriation of the
funds of the late Indian Independcence League of which he was
the President in Japan as well R S the valuables carried by
heL:ji; shri hyer's name had also been associated with these
charges. The 'ratter had been referred to the Ministry of
External Affairs by the then Head of the Liaison Mission in
5/-
Lat Lthe timewhen the valun-bke sIs ome goldand Yen ,'-'0000/-had been left
ith Shri.Ram Murthy
it i`
Tokyo Shri lismn hao in December 1947. Subsequent Heads of
Missions h -d nlo reported on suspicions regarding misappropriai
ion on the part of Shri Rama Murthy, the fact that he had ctimil
kno,ledLe of existence of the trensure only strengthemd the
suspicions. In 1951 7 the Head of the Indian Liaison Mission
Shri Chettur h -id reported that Shri Rpm Murthy had become
affluent overnight in 1946, "when his compatriots were on the
verge of starvation and misery".
5. In 1951 7 Shri Ayer who was then Director of Publbity
in the then Government of Bombay proceeded to Tokyo on what was
claimed to he RIloliday trip. In Tokyo 7 he stayed with'Shri
Ram VAirthy and it came to lightsubsequently that Shri Ram Murtl
had also financed Shri Ayer's trip. While in Tokyo, Shri Ayer
met the Head of the Indian Liaison Mission Shri Chettur on 29th
May 1951 and stated that one of the objectives of his 'Mission'
to Tokyo , as the recovery of the gold and jeI ellery which had
been collected from the place in which Netaji met his death.
He inform ed Shri Chettur that some part of Netajils collectitms
had been -aved such as fused and molten gold ornaments, which
in his ipinion was worth about Rs.1 lakh. He dismissed local
ru es. He also informed Shri Chettur that Col.Habibur Rahman
and himself had compiled a detailed list of the items in 1945
and he ianted to check these lists before the valuables could b,
sent to India, he handed over to Shri Chettur photostat, copies
of letters Written by Col.Habibur Rahman and by himself to,
Shri Ram MurthyLin 1945. He suggested that the valuables be se
to Delhi by Diplomatic bag in small lots to be disposed of 12077
by the government of _India in such a manner as it deemed fit.
loopip
'
f - /
; V
. .
,
,
-
- 6
' It vould ape -r from subsenuent records that Shri A.rer had '
inspected the valuables on 6th June 19 51 while in Tokyo, and
compared the list with the original list l e f t by Col.Hab ibu r
Rahman. The follo,ing details have been given in hand -Written
note by by him :-
i ) Comprntively pure gold in 8.5 kgs. 'papers bundles only(the increasein 1 eight i s apparently due todifferent scales used for weiL,hing)
ii) Gold mixed with molten metal etc. 3.0 kgs. -
Total .... 11.5 kgs.
6. It is interesting to note that there l'as no mention
in the nal list of ti-o wooden boxes, i..'hose wieght had also .
Col.Hab ibu r Rahman. If
oric, takes this into account, the icrease in ,eight during tecond.
veighink, by Shri Ayer would be even more substantial.
7. ' Shri Chettur was instructed by the Government of India
to take over the valuables should Shri Ayer hand them ove r to
the Lission. 6ubsecuently, instructions were sent out to the
effect th-t the Mission's endeavour should be to get possession
of all the treasure on behalf of Government and to keep it in
safe custody penaing instructions in its disposal. However,
Shri Ayer did not li-nd over the tre-sure to the Mission during
his visit and left Tokyo for India on 11th June, 1951 .
8. Cn his return to India, Shri Ayer met the Prime Minister
i n ilieptember, 1951. Subsequent ly, instructions fr o m Prime
Minister, our Miss ion i n Tokyo 1.-as asked on 23rd September, 1951
to take over from Shri Ram Murthy all the INA treasure in his
possession and keep i t in the fission until further instructions.
....... 7 / -
The Eistsion 7-r.,.s also asked t o int imate the na ture and quanti ty
of t reasu re . On 24th Sep te mb er 19 51 , the Fi r s t Secre tary of the
Mission Shri V.C.Trivedi and the Regist rar we nt t o Shri Ram Mur thy"s
house and took possess ion of the var ious packages after open ing -
and weighing them wi th the Mission's scales i n the presence of
Shri Ram Hur thyLR:=,pk g and his wife. I t was found. ' that there
vere three cloth bundles conta ining voluables , a paper pa ckage
containing gold pieces and Yen 20 ,O 00 i n cash. T he l i s t prepared
b y the .i li ss -ion i n icat ing the weights o f var ious packages was sent
t o the Minis try. Subsecuently, there i s record of the valuables '
having bean twice; one i n the Ministry b f External Affai rs
soon aft er t h e i r a r r i va l i n India (the date i s not specified but
i t i s somewh ere aro u n d 1.12 .195 '2 ) and l a s t l y i n the National
Museum on ins t ruct ions of Pr i me Minister on 9.10 . .78 . The following
tab le has been Prepa red t o co m p a r e the weight s
a s found on
BUNDLE I Package 1Package 2Package . 3PackagePa c ka ge 5'
Ck Fe 6Pa ckage . 7P--chage, 8
age 9Package 1 0Pa c ka ge 11Pa c ka ge 1 2Patkage 1 3Package 14-.. .
.BUNDLE I I
I
the three occasions:-
, Aver's l e tV Nine pieces of
gold
Weight indic-ated b y IndianMiss ion i n To kyoa t the t ime oftak ing ove r(24 .9 .19 51 )
4 0.0 gms.2 Kgs .5 6 0 gms35 gms3 gins700 gms1 kg. 70 0 gms825 gms425 gms12 0 gms625 gms105 gms200 gms50 gms50 gms
1,600
of individual i t ems
Weight foundo n inspectioni n MEA af t e ra r r iva l
Weight found' o n inspection
on 9.10 ;78
(1 .12.1952)?
399.90 gms . 389.5 gm s .2 Kgs. )+4 7 .0 7 gms 3.0 5+ Kgs .31 5.70 gms 318 gms.314.60 gms 318 gms624.32 gms 62 8 gms1 kg.643 .65 gals 1 6 56 . 5 gins797.05' gms 812 gms424 .75 gals 4-25 .6 gms303 .5 5 ' gms '', 307.5' gms1+15. 55' gms 1+19.7 gms108.95 gms 101 gms '201 .5 5 ' gms 205 .0 gms44.2;-_i gins 1+6 gms1+8.05' gms 50 .5 gm s.
.1.49.1-..2 ginsNot we ighe d 9665 grins . f3.4 )12 gms
,1
300 gms 298.75 gms 300 .05 girls
. . . . . . 8 / -
9. At the time of taking over of the valuables in'TokCr
Lhri Chattur 'sainted out thrit the ,eight as found by the ,Mission
'PS morc than 1. -hat , as shovn in Col.Habibur Rahmants letter.
The latter hsd also not mentioned the thAtd package containirt
duct snd baae metal; ac-ording to Shri Ram Murthy this had been
omitted as it -as practically worthless. Shri Chettur found -
\ two auspicious circumstances, one that the pieces of gold handed
over by Shri Ram rurthy appeared to be bright and completely
untarnished and did not appear to hnve been kept in custody for
nearly six veers a- ,-aa claimed. Shri Ayer, who was supposed
' to h-ve left the gold pieces vith Shri Ram Murthy in 1945 had
asserted that the pieces were exactly in the form in vhich he
had brought them from Saigon. Farther, the 20,000 Yen handed
over to the Jission ,as in the notes then current and not in
the notes cusrent in 1945. Shri Chettur was at that time able
to get p confidential report from the Japanese Foreign Ministry
on the question of the treasure. According to this, Netaji .
had substantial quantity of cold ornaments and precious stonessuit-
in Saigon but w-s.ss allowed to csrry only two/cases on the ill
fated flight. !,\Ten those two suit -cases, according to
Shri Dhettur, must have crried very much more than what vas
handed over by Shri Ram Murthy to the Mission in 1951. There
sore also uncertainties surrounding the fate of the bulli .of
th treFaure 7-hich Netaji had left in Saigon itself; that it
las substnntial is indicated by the fact that on 26th January
1945, Netaji had been ,eighed against gob. Against this
background, Shri Chettur felt that it was difficult to believe
that the 300 grams of gold handed over by Shri Ram Murthy to
the Li -scion represented all that Shri Ayer had brought from
Saigon. Shri Chettur. drew the conclusion that Shri Ayer, ,
.......9/r"
-apprehensive of the early conclusion of the Peace Treaty, had
\come to Tokyo to "divide the loot and salve his and Shri Ram.
Murthy's conscience by the handing over of a mall quantity.
toto the Government in the hope that by doing so, he would also
succeed in dr-ling a red herring across the trail".
10. The Letaji Enqui*y Committee in 1956 has not drawn
any specific conclusions on whether the tre-sure had been
misappropriated, and if so, by whom. The Committee concluded
that the charred and damaged pieces of gold and jewellery
etc. which are in the National Museum formed a part of Netaji's
baggne in his last journey and ere salvaged from the Taihoku
Airport and later recovered from Shri Ram Murthy. The Committe
also found thnt i-hat was handed over by Shri Ram Murthy in 1951
tallied with the list signed by Col.Habibur Rahman. But the
Committee could rench no conclusion on how much of valuables
ver, carried by 1:etnji in his last flight and how much of it
, as recovered, narticulerly since the two suit -cares Aid to
have been taken by Netnji had not been weighed, the Committee
, as of the view that the quantity that has been recovered was
much lets than all that Netaji carried with him. In view of U.'
discrepancies in statements relating to the conclusion of the
ve,lu-bles from Taihoku Airport, their subsequent,custody and-
handino over to Netaji's associates, the Committee expressed
the opinion th2t "it was fr from clear as to illat was dollecte_
from Zaihoku Airport, whether and vhen the container was changE
-hether th(re wee any subtraction and who took delivery of it
in Tokyo and when". The Committee suggested that in case a sel
Prate inquiry ihto this i'as considered necessary, such an
inquiry i-onld hove to cover not only the treasure carried by
Uetaji on his last journey but also examination of the entire
ovisionalasrests and liebilities, in c-sh and kind, of the Pr
-)
.00
- 10 -
Gove rnment of Aead Hin d. The Co m m it t e e was however was no t sure
whether such e n inquiry would se rve , an y pu rp ose af te r the lapse
of t ime c-pedia l ly nince hatever records there migh t have been,
ha d been des t royeo .
11. T he on e -ma n ' In q u i ry Commission he a de d Just ice Kho slanot
i n 13;-.H.)o r t dc ted 30 th Ju n e 197 )4- did /go in to any de ta i l on the
subject of th e t reesu re. The Co m miss io n- ha d not speci fical ly
enru ired into th is matter . 'The Co m m iss io n t ins noted a suggest ior
medc, t o i t that Lar t, of t;he treasure had been misapOropr ia ted
b y Shri Ram Piu rt hy and his brother J .Murthy. Bu t the Co m m iss io n
cou ld no t f ind any sa t i s factory proof of such misaparopr iation
and f e l t tha t ."rin usefu l puraose could b e se rved by pursu ing
a wes t yhich , c e not l ike ly t o yie ld anything defin i te o r
or th wh iLr , " .
12. I n Oc to be r 195t , our i\mba sador i n To kyo a s asked
ilic-H;her the t r e: sure cou ld no Wb e brought over t o India a s our
Per:..ce fresty with Japan had come in to force . The Miss ion 'p ro po s
on ; '7 th Octob er 1952 that the v. _- , lu ables be sent with Shri Da mle
Join t Bacret r y i n the, Eihis t ry of Agri cu lu ture who was on a
vi!. i t t o Tokyo a t that t ime and returning t o India on 7th
rhe riseiOn f e l t that i t was no t necesecry t o re fe r
the mat ir , er t o th e jaT.-) )es:: Government ; who hadevinced n o in t e res t
i n the Tat or . Due t o * l a y i n f A 1 P f l i gh t Shri Damle , reached
r )e lhi on the 10th evenin by f l iFh t t.;o. 3. At the. reques t
of tJ_nis t ry of _Sy:tern:a Affairs , ins truct ions were issued t o the
alster is r,-,77nminatic)n under the 'note and pass ' procedureon thei i
underst ,:n ing tha t the a r t i c l e s wo u ld b e assessed 'la ter and custc
duty 2a,ic,_ b y the Lin i s t ry of Externa l Affairs . An import permit
from the i t e ;,ervi, Bank of India was also not ins is ted upon.
1 1
13. ccordin[* to the rr:cords, Jhri Dariao on artival
/ deliver-.0 the v-lrabl - to Shri H.Doyal, thon Joint Secretary
(Adminintv'tion) in the idnintry of Eternal Affairs.. The suit-,I s I,ert in his cabinct. Thereafter, on an unspecified
ri:,te the v-luabic- cro cheadd and ,,eirhcd. The roSulsts of
tha lei,hing are in ,the table given earlier ( it is to be noted
Lh:t neither the sr her list -rit by our tlission in Tokyo
indicating t he , eifthtn an found at th,: Lime of taking over of
fror shri Ram flrthy nor the lint as prepsred in the
Einintry arival nf the items here are signed or authenti-
o 6). Tne vall'ablen 1-ere eonsidcre to he L'orth about
Rn.W 10C0 at that LiLe; this is pro suably based on a message
from tIn 1 inion in Tokyo beforr:: dospatch of the f,00dn that they
i i h t bo ir-rr'.3 for Its .90,000/- Prim? Ijinister inspe cted the
artieLs on (-).1.1953. ,.
"1 rIn, this t;):C'fllrn. it Wado a poor show. Apartfrrm nme raid pieces, it consisted of charredrem -inn of !-,0M2 r,ther cheap jei.rellery chiefly somenilv-r -r - gold articles, all broken up. I thinkthat this should he kept an it in. Apart from-v,l'yLhtng else, it is si.1 vide rice of the aircraft,
nt fire".
The qw,s;,i.on of e errtiii Aie valuables from Customs
ruty as taken up -ith the Vinintry of Finance. It an nuggente(
to the 1:Anistry of iL7L(fnal Affairs that in case these i r e
can7j OrCri r; of hiStrrterd value hich would be kept in
- lac, could be given. This , an confirmed
by the 3,Jistry. andelemption from customs duty was accorded.
15. As rog;-,rn the custody of the box containing valuabl(
this as taken over by Shri Devi Dyal l Deputy ecretary(Adminis-
tration) on 26th Li?ptembet, 1953 and deposited in the
TreanuroPn s!flfc. On 5th October 1953, the box was double
.......
-r
1/,1
sealed -ith an EGO 'eal and a flOs Secretariat seal in presence
of Deputy Jecret'ry(Adrrinistration). It is seen from a subseq-
uent note thnt Lbs ho 7 Contpininf the v. luables 11-,d been nut
in 1e a e1ed 1)711: and deposited in the c-sh chest of the
Ministry.
16.. The Ministry of Lxternal Affairs -as in touch vith
the IV's Jecretarint in reRard to the eventual disposal of .these
vrluables. On 1L.11.19-53 the krime "Winiater suggested that the
Ministry of Education take charge of the tresurc after inspectiot
Fol lo i r i a thi l
hni Ji. Roy, :_AiperintJndent: Central Asian Antiquities Museum
flue eum) and Joint 6ecretary(Administration), Ministry
of T&ternal Affairs,, inspected. the ti e sure on 27.11.1953..
Thereafter Jhri Kabir,recorded. note to th ,. effect that the
ite7s POL suitable for evhibiLion arid therefore these could
bst he ft irftr ov er to the family oF Nntaji Bose, if neces'ary,
.t'er a brif'fyhibition in Delhi. The then Minister of
Maulana Abu Kale:m A -ad suFicsted that these items
be hY(.1.ed over to Netaji's family. However, itime Minister in a
minute :cncordd. on 2.1;:)..1953 ttd that the articles could not
be sent to the Eet il: fflmily as the family had shown no interes-
in thew and 1 -ere not prepared to admit that Netaji had died in
that cci ,:nt. FA1 stated that -cJiile there es no ouestion of
hc,11-fjin an eyhibition of these articles, since they lore of histo
rical lrlue, they should he kept carfully. Folloing these
instrncti,71 1 the Ministry of -.Vu cation dcided that the treasur
loc d in abox and seEled, ,ould be depb:Tited in the National
Museum- This , 1953. In a note
recocded on the taking over, has been signed by =;tiri
.......1V-
- otfoRoy, F:uperintennntit, National Isluseum, Chri A.C.Banerji of the
National Luseumd Shri Devi Dyal, Deputy C.;ecretry(Administration)
i1inL7try of ilyternal Affairn, it is stated that the box containin
the Lro-nure n- nor lint on Lho.file T:as opened, contents checke
and tbereffter re -locked and re -sealed with the EGO seal of the
Ministry: of :ixternal Affairs and handed. Over along with the key
to Shri Roy. Shri Roy has recorded on. 2.1.1954 that the treasure
ha(! ben safely deposited in. the National Puscum.
17. A7 reLnrds the sum of Yen 20,000/- laich had been hande
over to the tt;mbsnsy of India., Tokyo, by C:;hri Rem 4rthy, this
taken into Governmrt account for purposes of transfer
to India. This mount, equivalent to Rs.265/- and 10 annas,,
remsined in. the links try of Eyternal Affairs pending a decision
on its disnoml. On 2.12.54, Prime Minister's Sectetariat
instructed that this amount be handed over to the INA Relief
Fund of tho ;UGC. This as accordingly dorm on 16.12.1954
(u :A n ;,,,t e re eel t is7-u?d 1-)y. the AI(;C. The papers relating: to
the 11 .ireasure had been made available to the Netaji Inquiry
Committee in 1956. The Aeport of the Committee indicates that
the Committee inspected the valuables at the National Museum tl.Tic
on the seconxt occasion along. 7-ith Kundan Singh, Netajils
personal valet, -ho identified a mwber of articles as belonging
to Fetaji. It /-ould apn-ar after the inspection, the box
re -sealed ,ith the seal of the linistry of External Affairs.
18. The a,- /as opencdagain on 9.10.78 on Prime Minister's
in,;tructionw. Addit [anal Secretary, Department of Culture,
Director, Nntional Luseum, Director General; Archaelog,ical
Survey of India, /ere present at the opening, representatives
of the ;,inistry of External Affairs -ern also present though
..,..14
- -9,7
not at th- ipiLlal oponini or thp box. DeLnilcd information
on th,
available , ith the Department of Culture and Prime Einister's
Offirc. Ho, ever, the weights of Oifferent packages, as now
aseerL,i w,,d by Iluseum offici-ls have been give in the table
on page 7 . information as 'provided b the Prime
VinisLorlr office.
F t .( 4 1%
11.72;)t s E
R.A.JYA,SABHAU4111'.4.RIED GUEST-.1.-07 _pp,
TI -T, 30TH 7.7 4. 1972
NET,A,TT AND T2-7,11-7
L32. E)Ii.R ..c.',HAIL.P.,130 P,TY:
Will the PRIME MINI3T.ER be pleased to state:
(a) whether Government's attention has been drawn to a news
item which appeared in the t Amrit Bazar P a r ika T of the 25th
October, 1978 regarding Netaji and. the LN.A. t reasure;
(b) if so, what are the details in this regard;
(c) whether it is a fact that there tte4-four suitcases
containing the I.N.A. treasure;
(d) if so, who had brought the treasures and from whom and
in lao,,f many boxes;
(0) whether any such box or suitcase is missing;
(f) what is the name of the person or authority under whose
cus tody these boxes rema ined for such a long time; and
(g) whether the matter was placed before the Netaji Enquiry
Committee in 19 5 6 and the one-man Con -l i s s ion headed by Justice
G. D. i;.hosla; if not, what are the reasons therefor?
A N S W E R
PRIME 14 it\TISTER ( SHRI MORARJI
(a) Yes, Sir.,
(b) A steel suitcase said to contain the treasure that was
salvaged from the aircraft in which Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose
' t o o 2/.'"
was reported to have met his death is in the custody of National
7,, S GUM.. The box, which is placed in a diplomatic bag sealed by
the Ministry of External Affairs was entrusted on the 30th
/IDecember 1953 to the National Museum N ew Delhi for safe
custody and has remained with them since then.
In order to verify the observations made in Chapter VI of
the Shah Nawaz Khan Committee's report about the contents of
the box, the Prime Minister had directed that the box be opened
and the contents evaluated. Accordingly, the box was opened on
the 9th October 3.978 in the presence of the following officers:
(1) Shri A.S. Gill, Additional Secretary, Deptt. of Culture.
- -_ _
survey of India.
Shri
(3) Shri C. Sivaramamurti, Former Director, National Museum.
(4) Dr. P, Eanerjee, Assistant Director, National Museum.
(5) Shri I. D. Mathur, Keeper(L&E), National Museum.
(6) Dr. N.R. Banerjee, Director, National Museum.
K.P. Ealakrishnan, Director(Establishment) and Shri Atish
Sinha, Under Secretary, of the Ministry of External Affairs,
joined later and left before the contents were sealed again.
The box was found to contain seventeen packages, the contents
of which were medals, rings, chains, wrist watches, ear -rings,
pendants, ear -studs, brooches, bangles, fragments of stones,
shirt buttons, Signet rings, nose -ring stones, iron nail and other
miscellaneous items almost all of which were in damaged and charred
condition. The net weight of the articlesr excluding weight of_c
wrappers was found to be 13491.25 grammes.
The contents of the box were placed inside the suitcase and
bag, and once again sealed with -the seaVot the-Nationa/ Museum.
* e r r 3/".
(11 . 'The treasure was handed over to the Head of the
Indian Liaison Mission, Toky(7, in September 1951 by some Indians
ass3ciated with Nebaji. Before the treasure was taken over,
a list of the contents was rade and they were weighed, and a
receiPt was given. On instructions from the then Prime Minister,
the Head o f the Indian . Liaison Mission, kept the treasure for
some time. These articles were brough t i n one box t o Delhi by
an official of the Government of India and handed over to the
then. Brine Minister immediately on arrival and retained in
Ministry of External Ali;:'airs temporarily. The box was entrusted
to National Museum on 30th December, 1953 where it has remained
s ince then . Go ve rnme n t i s no t aware of any other box containing
the treasure.
e) Does not arise.
(g) The terms of reference of the Netaji Enquiry Committee
and the Justice Khosla Commission were to enquire into the.
circumstances concerning the disappearance/alleged death of
Netaj i Subhas ChandrE. Bose and subsequent .developments
connec bed therewith. Though the treasure was not specifically
mentioned in the terms of reference, both the Committee and
the Co;:-.mission have touched on this aspect in their Reports.
frIBM21312 OF
(.1e*i?
Ula j iNAL IAMENISABHA)
71.v 1) ' ('
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USE911991119tar
10 . 1 ; V 'Rajendra Prasad
N e w D e l h i - 1 1 0 0 0 1 .
De ce mb er
neF,r ;3it
(1))
Th an k yo u ro r your l e t t e rde teCi ; ) ( . C-Ci l lho r 1 : 3 ,
eot i t e t t ti oh V I . L H - po r t io u. N o fwy pr e s 8 t n t e M 0 t a b U t
e t LI1 r 4Tre ,- r.ift-t r e
1 11 IT 1_ (7 V! n C the I l i o r e P ly t o
n.}-1,1 con tents ofYour le t; nb to E3pecilicallyask the o tic
e 1-4 i F. u t e i tt ta c; _t . Li] i;Le box viiien I to r o,..) :Led r i'.1(711r1.1 °per iod
t ?
i n 0 !'L j l C 1;
eno."( iJ ecop 0 i t re d or l e yen r.La Lek' t o t i l e Jn LJ i J.,,Htflitorn?
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NZ) f ' P l
JANUARY 91 1979
Plense refer to your letter of December 20,
A list of packages containing the valuables
prepared in Tokyo when the treasure wts taken over
by the in.dian Mission was already available with
the tlinistry of Mxternal rairs. After the arrival
of the treasure in Indialsomewhre around 1,12.1952)
the articles were inspected and a list of packages
vas prepared. The number e?
the two lists tally.
The box containing the treasure in a sealed
bag remained in the officinl custody ofthe Ministry
of External Affairs till it ws louvered ,to the
Nntiona1 Museum on 30th DeceMber, 1953.
Yours sincerely,
Dr. Subri niam (31,m1Y,Member Palitament,22, Dr. Rajendra Prasad Road,N74 9;;LITI-110001.
pacimzes recorded in
(V. Shankar)
Ccr i l
11-
D R A F T
Subject: Starred Ques tion Dy. No . 3482 proposed t o be asked i nthe Lok sa bha by shri hyam sunder Gupta for answeron 1-12-1978 re ga rding ne ws -i tem regarding jewe l l eryand Go ld Bars deposited i n Japanese Bank by Ntetajisubhas Chandra Rose. -o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
Re fe re nc e / ok sabha secretariat u.o. No .SQ.3 4 8 2 /1 .1 2 /7 8 -Q
dat ed 16-11-1978 on the subject cited above which the ministry o f
Finance have pa sse d on t o this off ice with a re que s t t o accept
i t s transfer and for furn ish ing factual information t o Lok sabha
Secret ariat .
2 . we accept transfer of the Ques tion which i f achi tted, may
be set down for answer by the prime minister on a day al loted t o
him.
I 3 . The Report i n the 'g l i tz , o f 21st October does no t mention
that on 17 th August , 1945 Net ail. subhas Chandra Rose left three
suitcases f i l led with jewel lery and gold i n a Japanese Bank as
stated i n the Quest ion. what the fplitzt Report says is that
Neta j i left with three suitcases i n a Japanese bomber. The
information available with Government about the treasure carried
by Netaji i s that the treasure said to have been sa lvaged from
the aircraf t i n which tqataji i s reported t o have met his death
was handed over t o the Head of the Indian l ia ison mission in Tokyo
i n September 1951 by some /ndians assoc iated with wetaji . Before
the treasure was taken over , a l i s t of the contents was prepared and
they were weighed and a receipt was tiven. on instructions from
-2-
14,
tn
k
r
4P Y
I
0 , ,
1
:the then prime minister, the Head o f the Tndian lia ison miss ion kept
the treasure fo r sane t ime 5 Th e se - ar t icles we re brought i n one box tcthe
Delhi by an off i c ia l of the Go ver nment o f india an d handed over to/ the
prime minister immediately on arrival and re ta ined i n the minis try o f
External Affai rs temporar i ly. The/sealed box was ent rusted t o the
National museum for safe cus tody on 30th December, 1953 where i t has
remained since then , i n the context of observat ions made i n chapter
of the s t i ah Nawaz Khan commit tee Re p or t on th is subject , under
instruct ions o f the prime minis ter, th i s box was op en ed recently and
i t s conten ts were inspec ted and an inventory prepared . The box has
been resealed and kept i n the Nationa l museum.
4 . qo vern me n t i s no t aware o f any other box contain ing Netaj it l
t reasure.
5 . in the Light of the facts stated ab o ve , the $uest ion o f
conduct ing an inquiry into the matter does not ariee.
6 . we would l ike t o point out that most o f this information ha'
l lready been given t o Tok sabha i n answer t o Starred Ques tion W:60
22-11-1978. As su ch we feel that there i s n& need for the matter
t 'be ra ised i n the House through yet ano ther Question.
7 . There i s no object ion t o the informat ion being co n veye d t o
the Ii%mber who has tabled the Ques tion.
PS(S)
02--- / -' 2 -1 I II(
I ok ecret ark* (Senior Examiner o f Quest ions)
I .
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