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Rit# i 3- IFT$F w 1 File No I 0R/76/4_0, 06-crti ,L. 4.gu Volume 1-T7ff wctm GOVERNMENT OF INDIA 4AI MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS --)* Indexed on .............................................. 34TM: 11' Initials ...................................................... 34f1T-411 Section - NOTES 74- 14A- 7,1 "TT ................ '91Z . 11 7 Record C Destroyed in ......................... 'War AR 3113-TPTI T -d alch - -11 -x- r 1 - "TIT To ' 43:e: noted Not to be noted In Sectional Note Book 3 .m./311tRi1 Initials of S.0./Supdt. F4ch .1i417 Initials of Clerk SUBJECT P.62q)0yt ,) Aitc, al 1,e1 e__CA N.R* Sk4)k9-74.ct,01-0{ oce2_ ct- f\ --1-1 7' 5-2:006 CAA_ 13/ 63 fq- c3rA cij t Previous References \ s. ,P Later References
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Rit# i 3- - Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Papers

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Page 1: Rit# i 3- - Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Papers

Rit# i 3-IFT$F w 1File No I

0R/76/4_0,06-crti,L.4.gu

Volume

1-T7ff wctmGOVERNMENT OF INDIA

4AIMINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS

--)*Indexed on ..............................................

34TM:11'Initials ......................................................

34f1T-411

Section-

NOTES

74-14A-7,1 "TT ................ ' 91Z . 11 7

Record C Destroyed in .........................

'War AR3113-TPTI T -d alch

--11-x- r 1- "TIT

To '43:e: noted

Not to be notedIn Sectional Note Book

3 .m./311tRi1Initials of S.0./Supdt.

F4ch .1 i 417

Initials of Clerk

SUBJECT

P.62q)0yt ,) Aitc,

al 1,e1e__CA

N.R* Sk4) k9-74.ct,01-0{ oce2_

ct-f \ --1-17' 5-2:006

CAA_

13/

63

fq-c3rA ci j t

Previous References

\s. ,P

Later References

Page 2: Rit# i 3- - Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Papers

File No. 11012/76/20064 dn.

Sub: Short duration discussion Report of JMCI on allegeddisappearance of Netaji Sabhas Chandra Bose and the ATthereon Brief on the subject.

The above matter is coming up tomorrow the 26'1' July,2006 for discussion in the Lok Sabha. The following papers are, accordingiv,placed on the file

1. A br ief note on the report of JMCI.2. A copy of ATR placed before both the !louses of Parham

17.5.2006.3. A chapter -wise gist of the JMCI report 0 ol. I).4. A comparison among the reports of the Shah NaWal

Committee, Khosla Commission and this Commission.5. Copy of the Cabinet Note.6. Copy of letter of the Cabinet Secretar ia t dated 11,5.2006.7. Copy of CCMB dated 4.4.2006.8. Some anticipated questions and their replies.

May kindl3, see.

OSBI S

I / 9

A 6 9

7 1

K-1-2

714uswani i)

Under Secretary

G.

6

Page 3: Rit# i 3- - Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Papers

...JL- - Z 0 0 6 T U E 1 8 4 1 ID : T EL F :01

10K SABHA SECRETARIAT04 .04000 111401 .4)

101101100

SUBJECT: Short Duration Discussion under rule 193 on the Report of JusticeMukherjee Couunission of Inquiry ragpvding allegeddisappearance of Natoli Subhuh Cheadle Bose andmemorandum of Action 'Talton ky the Government on the Reportlaid on the Table of the House on 1.7a May, 2006.

beenadmitted under rule 193 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in LokSabha:-

Shri Prabodb PandaShri Solvate Bose to raise a discuseion 911 the Report of

Justice Mukhetec Commiss'ion of Inquiry ntsarding alleged

disameimmee of Netsji Subbasb Chandra Bose and

memorandum of Aation Taken by the envortmestu te l

* -1.1.isport laid on the Table of the Housewitti ng% 2006. -*

2, The above discussion is being included in the List of Business forWednesday. the 261" July. 2006.

,This may please' 'be placed before the Horeble Minister of Home Affairs.

Sot/

(BS MAMA)

Vac 23021119021101114029

ItA% IMMO

P.S. to the Minieter of Home AffairsL.S.S.U.O. No. 17/1(9)/2006/1.-1 dated 25.74006

Copy to:

(1) P.S. to the Minister of Perlisznentszy Affairs.Ministry of Home Affairs (Shri V.K. Duual, Secretary).

p a k 1

akt)il*D 41 C )C

AOP7.0tAk,(DIWEPAK MARNA) 44.

DERBCTOR

Page 4: Rit# i 3- - Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Papers

4ft.

Ministry of Home Affairs(Security Division)

******

NOTE ON JUSTICE MUKHERJEE COMMISSIONREPORT

Government of India by Notification dated 14''' May. I 999

appointed the Justice Mukherjee Commission of Inquiry headed by

Justice M.K. Mukherjee, Retired Judge of the Supreme Court, to

inquire into all the facts and circumstances related to the

disappearance of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in 1945 and

subsequent developments connected therewith, including

a) whether Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose is ded or

b) if he is dead, whether he died in the plane crash, &,

alleged;

c) whether the ashes in the Japanese temple are

Netaji;

d) whether he has died in any other manner at any other

place and if so, when and how; and

e) if he is alive, in respect of his whereabouts

The Commission after examining 131 witnesses, visiting U.K.

Japan, Taiwan, Bangkok and the Russian Federation and ale;

through 308 exhibits, has submitted its findings on 8"

2005 as

Page 5: Rit# i 3- - Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Papers

a) Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose is dead.

b) He did not die in the plane crash, as alleged.

c) The ashes in the Japanese temple are not o(Netaii.

d) In the absence of any clinching evidence a positive

answer cannot be given.

e) Answer already given in (a) above.

Government of India examined the report of .IMCI thoroughly

along with those of Shah Nawaz Committee and Khosla ('ommission.

It has been observed that Justice Mukherjee Commission's inquiry

was inconclusive in many ways, it is unable to provide a definitive

finding on several issues and is at variance with past wei -i accepted

Inquiry Commission's findings in some critical areas and in the lighL

of this, the Government has accepted regretfully that Netaji is dead

but does not agree with the findings that --

a) Netaji did not die in the plane crash; and

b) The ashes in the Renkoji Temple were not of Netaji.

JMCI has concluded that Netaji did not die in the plane crasil

because of non -availability of records relating to the air crach. But, as

mentioned by Khosla Commission in their report, "The papers in the

plane must have perished in the fire , because t he front por t H1

plane where they would normally be kept was completely destroyed."

Khosla Commission also stated that "It is only conjecture that such

papers must have been prepared ergo, their non -production disproves

the crash story. It is against reason, common sense and the rules of

Page 6: Rit# i 3- - Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Papers

evidence to base a conclusion on such an unjustifiable and

unsubstantiated assumption."

Government of India accepted the findings of the Shaw Nawaz

Committee set up in 1956, where the Committee after examining the

witnesses (some of them were co -passengers in the same ill-fated

plane and survived the crash) stated that "It will thus be seen that the

evidence given by witnesses before us as to Netaji's death is

corroborated by the findings of British and American Intelligence

organizations who undertook independent enquiries very soon after

the occurrence, and the conclusion of an unofficial enquiry conducted

a year later by an Indian journalist. As for the witnesses, who have

deposed before us, neither from their antecedents, nor from the

manner in which they made their statements, has the Committee any

reason to disbelieve their stories. These witnesses are of different

nationalities. Some were Japanese, Col. Habibur Rehman, an tndian

(now, a Pakistani), and Col. FiggesS, an Englishman. They were

unconnected with ,each other arid came from different walks of life.

There is absolutely no reason why they should come and depose to

something which they know to be untrue."

The Shah Nawaz Committee also stated in the report that - they

all point to the fact that Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose died at la;hc 11

Military Hospital on the night of the 1 e August, 1945. We accept

this conclusion."

Page 7: Rit# i 3- - Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Papers

The Committee a!so stated in the report that "Most of the

Japanese witnesses are not now connected with the Government of

Japan, and are in no way obliged to give evidence according to any

particular brief."

The Committee stated in Chapter VII that "The Commission

has come to the conclusion that Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose met his

death in an air crash, and that the ashes now at Renlwii temple,

Tokyo, are his ashes."

Khosla Commission, appointed in 1970, also stated that

have reached the conclusion that the story of the aircrash at the

Taihoku airfield in Taiwan and the subsequent death of Bose,

resulting from burn injuries sustained by him in the crash must be

believed. This story is substantiated by the testimony of

independent witnesses, four of whom were Bese's co -passengers in

the plane which crashed, one is the doctor who attended to him and

signed his death certificate and several others mentioned in the course

of this chapter who have corroborated this story in all material

particulars." The Commission also stated that "Most of the witnesses

who gave evidence impressed me by their frank and honest

demeanour. The Doctor, too, appeared to be a most convincing.

witness of truth."

Khosla Commission also stated that "1, therefore, find it proved

beyond all reasonable doubt that Bose traveled in a Japanese bomber

from Touraine to Taihoku on the morning of 18 th of August, 1945:

Page 8: Rit# i 3- - Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Papers

At Taihoku the plane stopped for a short time to refuel. The pilot

detected a snag in one of the engines. This was attended to, and the

pilot pronounced the aircraft to be airworthy. The propellers of one of .

the engines had been damaged in a previous accident and the repair

carried out did not completely restore the efficiency of the engine.

This finally caused the crash at Taihoku, almost immediately after the

plane took off. The plane crashed to the ground, broke into two parts

and caught fire. In this fire the pilot and the Gerd. Shidei died

instantaneously and of the other men on board, the co-pilot Ayoagi

died later and Bose also succumbed to his burn injuries during the

course of the following night. His body was cremated and the ashes

were taken to Tokyo."

The Shah Nawaz Committee has given a detailed account as

how the ashes were taken from T aihoku to Tokyo in Chapter V (d'

Report under the heading "Netaji's Ashes". In para 7 of t

the Committee has stated that "From what has been said,

seen that the ashes were moved in

v-

ges from the crernatoritnn

Nishi Honganji temple, 17rom there to I'vlinami Aerodrome, and

to Tokyo Imperial General Headquarters. The progress there:_iil

enee

%vas

from the Imperial General Headquarters, first to Mr. Rarnamurt

house, and then to Mrs. Sahay's house and finally to the Renkoji

temple. There is no break in the chain."

In Chapter VII of the report, Shah Nawaz Committee has stated

under the heading "Recommendation" that "The Committee has come

to the conclusion that Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose met his death an

Page 9: Rit# i 3- - Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Papers

air crash, and that the ashes now at Renkoji temple, Tokyo, are his

ashes."

Khosla Commission has also stated that "His body was

cremated and the ashes were taken to Tokyo." .

So, the Government found it difficult to accept the report or

JMCI in its totality, because non -availability of documents does not

disprove the story of the air crash at Taihoku on 18th August, 1945 in

the face of overwhelming evidence of witnesses (some of whom wer e

co -passengers in the same ill-fated plane and suffered severe burn

injuries themselves) tendered before the Shah Nawaz Committee and

Khosla Commission. Accordingly, a Memorandum of Action Taken

Report was placed before both the Houses of Parliament on 17 th May,

2006.

Page 10: Rit# i 3- - Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Papers

AUTHENTICATE,

svmOiffi

MEMORANDUM OF ACTION TAKEN ON THE REPORTOF THE JUSTICE MUKHERJEE COMMISSION OF INQUIRY REGARDING

THE ALLEGED DISAPPEARANCE OFNETAJI SUBHAS CHANDRA BOSE

By Government of India Notification No. S.O. 339(E) dated 14th May,

1999, Shri M.K. Mukherjee, retired Judge of the Supreme Court of India, was appointed

under the Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1952, to inquire into all the facts and

circumstances related to the disappearance of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in 1945 and

subsequent developments connected therewith including

(a) whether Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose is dead or alive;

(b) if he is dead, whether he died in the plane crash, as alleged;

(c) whether the ashes in the Japanese temple are ashes of Netaji;

(d) whether he has died in any other manner at any other place and, if

so, when and how;

(e) if he is alive, in respect of his whereabouts.

The Government have examined the Report submitted by the Commission on 8th

November, 2005 in detail and have not agreed with the findings that -

(a) Netaji did not die in the plane crash; and

(b) the ashes in the Renkoji Temple were not of Netaji.

This Report is placed before the Houses as required under sub -section (4) of

Section 3 of the Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1952.

Page 11: Rit# i 3- - Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Papers

Here the background has been enumera ted. it ment ions about theappointment of the three -member Committee in 1956 with Shri ShahKhan as its members. After consider ing the evidence collected by theCommittee, two of them (Shri Shah Nawaz Khan and Shri S.N. Maitra) cameto the conclusion that Netaji had died in the plane crash. Shr i SeresitChandra Bose su bmit ted a diss ent ing r epor t s t a t ing tha t ther e had -nee noplane cra sh involving Neta ji' s death. The ma jor i ty r epor t was acceptedthe Government.

2. The ma jor ity repor t of the Commit tee did not , however , sa i ls 6 alepublic in gener a l So. the Government of India appoiitted anolheeCommission headed by Shri C.D. Khosla , Retired Chief Just ice ofHigh Cour t , in 1970. This Commission also came to the conclusion thatNetaji had succumbed to his injur ies susta ined in the plane crash at 1ailkot ,a tand that his ashes had been taken to Tokyo.

3. T he findings of the Khosia Commission also did nos end .thecont roversy sur rounding Netaji's dea th. So, Government of Indio oppoiniedanother Commission under Justice M.K. Milkher jee hi 1999.

4. The terms of reference of this Commission ',vas w inquirt' into ailthe facts and circumstances related to the disappearance ofStibhas Chandra Bose in 1945 and subsequent developmentsconnected therewith including

a.) whether Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose is dead or a live;if he is dead, whether he died in the plane crash, as a lleged.

c) whether the ashes in the Japanese temple are ashes of -N.:!;L:teiid) whet her he has d ied in any ot her ma nner a t any ()thee plate

and, if so, when and how;C) if he is alive, Ili respect of his whereabouts.

In Chapter Two of the report , the Comrnission has mentionedinllowng difficult ies which they encountered in the course of the it thoiry

The Commission did not get file No. 12(226)Ni-11Ni(Investigation into the circumstances leading to the denth orSub has h C haddra Bose) and the stand tal:en by the Cnbine

Page 12: Rit# i 3- - Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Papers

Secretar ia t about this tile, according to the Commission, is"evasive and unfathomable" (Page 13).

ii) U.K. Government did not give access to two f iles as they were"closed" (meaning cannot be divulged) (Page 18).

iii) The Commission requested the MEA for engagemet of suitablescholars or students of post -graduate class preferably of law,historical research, polit ical science etc. to do archival researchat var ious American repositor ies of relevant historicaldocuments on Neta ji, as agreed to by the Dir ector of T extua lArchives Services Division of the USA. But it was not accededto by MEA (Page 21).

iv) T he Commission wanted access being given by the RenkojiTemple authorit ies to a Scientis t for the purpose of collectionof the potentially less charred pieces of bones from the contentsof the urn kept there for DNA test . But this could not be donefor the Temple author ity's reticence (Page 31).

2. Here the Commiss ion mentions tha t owing to lapse of long t ime, aconsiderable number of witnesses whose evidence might have been helpful tothis inquiry were found to be either dead or untraceable or too old andinf irm to depose and quite a number of documents which might have beenrelevant to the inquiry could not be traced. in this connection theCommission points out that in compliance with its dir ection, Govt. of Indiafiled two applications supported by affidavits cla iming privilege underSections 123 and 124 of the Evidence Act and Article 74(2) of theConstitution of India in respect of documents contained in three files. T heCommission also mentions here that it visited England, Taiwan and RussianFederation in connection with the inquiry.

3. Although the Indian Evidence Act was not applicable to theproceedings before the Commission as held by High Court and Su pr emeCourt, it treated only those mater ia ls brought before it as evidence whichwere legally probative for a prudent mind.

CHAPTER THREE WHETHER NETAJI SUBHAS CHANDRA BOSE ISDEAD OR ALIVE

Under this Chapter , the Commission has mentioned the following

1) He was murdered at Red Fort in Delhi on August 15, 1945;ii) He died in an air crash at Taihoku (now Taipei) in Taiwan

(formerly Formosa) on August 18, 19351

Page 13: Rit# i 3- - Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Papers

iii) He died a t Dehradun, Ut tar Pradesh (now Utta raneha l) in1977;

iv) He died a t Sheopurkalan in the State of Madhya radish 013

May 21, 1977; andv) He d ied a t R a m Bha wa n in Fa izabad, Ut ta r P radesh, on

September 16, 1985.

2. The Commission has s ta ted that the average l ife span of an Indian isof

being 2 3 rd January, 1897). It has a lso added that it is 'possible' for a persor ito live beyond the average life span of an Indian and in a rare ease even morethan 100 years. But it as been mentioned that any per son or author ityent rus ted with the duty of investigating into a question of fact has to find ananswer thereto depending on whether it is 'probable' and not `possible. Thedistinction between the above two expressions is that while the former M e a n s

what is likely to happen in the common cour se of events , the la t t er meanswhat is unlikely to happen in the common cour se of events , bu t may happenin exceptional cases.

3. It has been mentioned that judged in the light of the above pr inciple,if it is found that none of the versions regarding Netaji's death issubstantiated, the only legit imate inference that can be drawn at this distantpoint of t ime is that Netaji is no more. And on this analogy, the Commissionhas delved into the dif fer ent versions of Netays death one by one in ChapterFour .

CHAPT ER FOUR OF NET AJPS DEAT

(i) Death in the Red Fort:

One Shr i Usha Ranjan Bha t tachar jee, a r es ident of Kolka ta , fi led asta tement , suppor ted by an affidavit, before the Commission contendingthat Netaji was deliber ately murdered in the Red Fort on 15)1) August, 1945

at zero hour . His at t ent ion was drawn to a book writ ten by him titled'Netajike Lal Kella i Hotya ' (Netaji was murdered in Red Fort) and NVIlefli

was asked a s to the source of his knowledge of the murder , he sta ted "ilicstory was given out of pr esumpt ion and assumption". In view of sueliadmission and absence of any other evidence, the Commiss ion rejected thecontention being a figment of imagination.

(ii) Death in the plane crash:

The Commiss ion has ment ioned here a t the outset tha t it is not anappella te body sit t ing in judgment over the finding of the ear lier Commit tet

Page 14: Rit# i 3- - Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Papers

and Commiss ion (Shah Nawaj Commit tee and Khosla Commission) andthat it has to answer the question (i.e. whether Neta ji died in the planecrash) afresh without being in any way influenced by the reasons thatweighed on them ( the Committee and the Commission) in ar r iving a t their .respective conclusions.

2. The Commission has narrated the story of the plane crash as follows

In the afternoon of August 15, 1945, while Netaji was in Singapore,the Government of Japan officia lly announced their surr ender to the AlliedPowers. Although Netaji was a lso willing to surr ender , but his colleaguespersuaded him not to do that and instead advised him to go to some Russianterr itory. Netaji left for Bangkok a long with Col. Habibur Ra hman andother s on Augus t 16, 1945, From their , he went to Sa igon on Augus t 17,1945. As the plane in which Netaji reached Saigon developed some problem,Netaji and Col. Habibur Rahman were accommoda ted in a Japanese planeand lef t Sa igon for Tokyo via Manchur ia and a r r ived at T ourane on thesame day i.e. August 17, 1945. On August 18, 1945, they left for Taihoku (inFormosa) and a fter a brief halt ther e for refueling, the p lane took off forTaihoku. But immediately ther ea fter the p lane cra shed in the a ir field andburst into flames. Netaji had suffered ser ious burn injur ies and taken to themilitary hospital where he succumbed to his injur ies. Col. HabiburRahman suffered minor injur ies. Netaji was cremated a day or two later inthe Cremator ium of Taipei and the ashes were collected and sent in a box toTokyo and ult imately enshr ined in the local Renkoji Temple.

3. To prove Netays death in the plane crash, seven witnesses weretestified before the Commission. None of them had any personal knowledgeabout the dea th of Netaji in the plane cr ash, nor did they produce anycontempora ry documents in support thereof. Their asser t ion on this pointwas based on either hearsay or belief or result of inquir ies. So, theCommission did not find that to be admissible evidence or reliable evidenceto hold that Netaji died in the plane crash.

4. In course of argument, the deponents and/or their learned counsel putforward the following grounds before the Committee, ea r l ier Commiss ionand this Commission against the evidence of those who spoke in suppor t ofthe story of the plane crash

i) Evidence is bristled with mater ia l discrepancies andcontradict ions.

If the bomber in which Netaji was t raveling had no seats andfor that ma tter no seat belt and all passengers were squa tt ingon the floor of the plane and as the plane had nosedived from a

Page 15: Rit# i 3- - Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Papers

height of about 12 14,000 feet, all the luggage and passengeeswould be thrown near the cockpit and in that event even halfof the passengers could not have survived (as per the evidenceonly two died on the spot and the rest could come out). Also,as per the evidence, Netaji was sea ted adjacent to the petroltank and as such gasoline f rom the t ank fell a ll over his body.result ing in t hird degree burns. This could not be believedbecause at the time when the plane was nosediving, Netajicould not remain seated near the petrol tank.

Not a scrap of paper was there to corroborate the oral versionof t he plane crash. This was impor tant because two veryimpor tant persons Netaji, the head of the ProvisionalGovernment of Free India , which was recognized by theJapanese Government, and Shidei , a General of the Japanesearmy - died in the plane crash.

iv) The Government of T aiwan and the Taipei City Governmentadmitted before the Cha irman of the Commission tha t theyhad no document in proof of the fact that there was any planeaccident at the mater ia l t ime.

Senior Counsel appear ing for Government of India , submittedthat there were glar ing discr epancies in the evidence adducedregarding the accident.

5. Then the Commission has sta ted the sequence of events rela t ing ioNetaji's t reatment in the hospital, his death and cremation as follows --

According to Dr. Yoshimi, who was examined by theear lierCommittee, Commission and this Commission, was acting as the chiefof Nanmon Military Hospita l, Taihoku, where Netaji and other injured werebrought after the plane crash, sta ted tha t Chandra Bose (as Netaji was socalled by the Japanese) had suffered severe burns (third degree) and hadlit tle chance of survival. He treated him first and he died shor tly after 8 PM.On the night of Neta ji' s dea th, Dr . Yoshimi prepared and signed a deathcer t ificate writ ing his name in J apanese (Ka ta Kana) as "Cha nd r a Bose"and giving the cause of death as "burns of the third degree".

As rega rds the crema tion, initially it was decided to take the body toTokyo; but subsequently it was decided to cremate it at Ta iboku. Asdeposed by Col. Ha bibu r Ra hman before the Shah Naw at Committee, onAugust 20 the coffin was taken to T aihoku City Government Crema tor iumfor cr ema tion. On the next day, according to Buddhist custom, a bone fromever port ion of the burnt body was picked and p laced in a woodel, bo% t#i

Page 16: Rit# i 3- - Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Papers

about 8 " cube and taken to Nishi (West) Honganj i T emp le and a specialceremony' was held on that day.

6. This evidence has been challenged on the following grounds

a) No hospita l record rega r ding na t ur e of injur y a nd na tu re oftrea tment given to Neta ji is available. Also, no cer t if icate toprove that the dead body was duly cremated is available.

11) No photograph of the dead body was taken either at thehospital or at the crematorium as an evidence of identification.

Although Netaji was the head of an independent State whichwas recognized by nine countr ies including Japan, no militaryhonours befit ting a head of an independent Sta te appea red tohave been given to the deceased at the time of the funeral.

7. The Commission has stated that after August 23, 1945, when the newsof Netaji's death was broadcast and pr ior to the appointment of Shah NawazCommittee, quite a number of inquir ies were held by the British and theAmerican intelligence authorit ies to ascer tain the tr uth. But reports of theseinquir ies indicate that they relied solely upon oral test imony without car ingto search for the relevant records of T a ihoku airpor t , the army hospital,Taipei Municipal Bureau of Health I& Hygiene (Bureau) etc. One Shr i Har inShah, the editor of "Indian Worker", which was the officia l journal of IndianNationa l Trade Union Congress, and who tes t ified as a witness before theShah Nawaz Commit tee, paid a visi t to T aipei towards the end of August ,1946 and made an inquiry into the s tory of the a ir cr a sh and of Neta ji' sDeath at Ta ihoku. In the Bureau 's office at Taipei, he met two clerks

i) Doctor 's repor t on the death of Netaji;

ii) The police officer's repor t; and

di) The Certificate issued by the Bureau permiting cremation.

The English tr anslat ion of the Doctor ' s repor t shows that the namementioned was Okara lchiro, date of death 19 th Augusut, 1945 and nature ofsickness was Hearth Failure.

8. Shri shah next stated that the police repor t and the cr ema tion permitalso more or less tallied with the Doctor's repor t . On being asked as to whyfalse par t icuiars had been furnished in the cer tificate with rega rd to theident ity and other details of Netaji, it was replied that the Japanese officeraccompanying the dead body had told them that for state reasons the

Page 17: Rit# i 3- - Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Papers

pa r t icula rs of the per son had to be kept conf identia l The Commission hassta ted here that the par t iculars in the documents did not rela te to Netaji.

9. T he Commission has also mentioned that dur ing Shah NawazCommit tee inquiry also these repor ts were obtained. This Commission,however , did not get them from the Government of India . They obtained thesame from the U.K. National Archives on their own initiat ive. Fur ther ,dur ing that t ime the Japanese Government was a lso requested to produce thesame documents and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the JapanGovernment forwarded a cop ,of ent ry in Seria l No. 2641 of the Crema tionRegis ter made by the Bureau in T aipei and the name ment ioned was lehiroOkur a . The thr ee set s of documents r eceived from thr ee dif fer ent sources

iz. from the office of the Director of Bureau, Taipei, from the U.K. NationalArchives and from the Japanese Government , uner r ingly demons t r a te tha tthe part iculars furnished therein ta lly with one another .

10. Therea fter the Commission has sta ted that according to theregulations then prevailing in Taipei, for cremat ion of a dead body, adoctor 's report of his death had to be obtained first . Then an application inthe prescr ibed form for a permit for cremation was required to be f iled by afamily, member of the deceased. In that form, deta iled par t icu lar s regardingdate of bir th, nature of il lness caus ing the dea th etc . were requir ed to befurnished to obtain the permission to crema te the dead body. However,dur ing the war , in ca se of milita ry per sonnel without family members there,permiss ion for cremation was granted on the s trength of a cer t if icate from amilitary hospital.

11. That the two doctors, namely Dr. Yoshimi and Fr . Tsuruta were fullyaware of these regulations wil l be evident from their s ta tement made beforethe Committee and the two Commissions. Before the Commit tee, the formersta ted tha t "On the 18 August I had issued a medical cer t ificate of death inrespect of the deceased person writ ing his name in Japanese as Chandra Boseand giving the cause of dea th as 'b u r n of the third degree' . Before theear l ier Commission, Dr. Yoshimi had aver red that he prepa red a deathcer t ificate and the name ment ioned therein was Chandra Bose and gav e thereason of dea th a s 'genera l burning al l over the body, degree thr ee'. Or.Yoshimi was examined by this Commission and he has sta ted thai hement ioned the name of the deceased as Chandra Bose and the cause of deathwas mentioned a s third degree burns . He also mentioned that he applied cothe Taiwan author ity on 18-8-1945 for the cremat ion permit and at t ached thedeath cert ificate with the application form.

12. If the aforesaid evidence of the two doctors is to be believed then thebody of Netaji would have to be taken to the Bureau and on the basis of the

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applicat ion made by Or . Yoshimi, the permit would have been issued and onhis cr emation there would have been entr ies in the cremation regis ter with aspecific ser ia l No. a llot ted and the name of Dr . Yoshimi would appear in thecolumn meant for wr it ing the name of the applicant seeking permission forcremation of the body. But in the r egis ter of cr ema tion a t the Municipa lHealth Cent r e, t her e was an ent ry in the name of I ch iro O ku ra who was.cremated on 22-8-1945 and no other records exist.

13. From the above, the Commission found that the records deathcertificate of Netaji filed before the Bureau, the application seekingpermission to cr emate the dead body, the permit gr anted for his crema tionand entry in the cremation register in proof of were absent andthis made the story of Netaji' s Death in the air crash vulnerable and raisesreasonable and bona fide doubt about the story.

14. T he above observation of the Commission also receives unflinching

The Cha irman r equested the Government of Ta iwan to send cer ta inrecords including all entries in the cremat ion register of the oldcrema tor ium of Taipei city dur ing the per iod f rom 18 August to 24August 1945. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Taiwan sent the recordsincluding the entr ies in the register . Therea f ter the Commiss ionrequisit ioned the services of Anglo-Japanese translator through theJapanese Consula te in Kolkata . According to the translat ion given,there is no entry in the name of Netaji Subhash Cha ndr aBose/Chandra Bose, pilot Takizawa. Co-pilot Aoyagi and Genera lShidei who, according to witnesses, were with Netaji as co-passengers) in the documents of cremat ion dur ing the per iod from 17August to 27 August 1945. Absence of any entry relat ing to theircrema tion defeats the story of dea th of Netaji and some of his co-passengers in the plane crash.

15. Quite a number of deponents and/or their counsel had submit tedbefore the Commission that there was evidence that Netaji did not die in theplane crash and that he was alive beyond August 18 1945. Some of them hadeven asserted that Netaji had been able to go to Russia pur suant to anexcogitated plan. The Commission received several sta tements supported byaffidavits and supplementa ry affidavit s that ther e were relevant documentsin several archives of Russian Federation rela t ing to Netaji. So theCommission decided to visit Russian Federation to hold inquiry includingexaminat ion of documents relating to Netaji. Accordingly the Commiss iongot in touch with the MEA with r equest to make necessa ry ar rangements soas to enable it to visit the archives and also to obtain the consent of the

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persons listed by one Dr. (Mrs. ) Purabi Roy, who claimed that she had beenvisit ing Russian Federation at regular intervals to do research work on Indo-Soviet relat ions for a long t ime. In response thereto, thr ee a rchives sentdocuments tr ans la ted into English and six other s int imated that they had nodocuments concerning Neta ji . So fa r a s the per s ons to b e ex amined wereconcerned, some of them were dead and some, were not traceable. These datawere furnished by MEA.

16. Ultimately the Commission decided to visit Russia in September 200:::.and scrutinized var ious documents and some witnesses. But nothing IAfound which could be of r elevance to the cur r ent t erms of r efer ence of theCommission.

17. To disprove the story of Neta ji ' s death in the plane crash, somedocuments were filed before the Commission s ta t ing tha t the Commiss ionshould go to Saigon (Vietnam) as according to them evidence would heavailable there to form that contention. But on scrut iny the Commission Ltdrejected the same.

18. Another ground canvassed before the Commission is based on cer ta inpassages in the "Transfer of Power 1942-7 (Vol.V1). Attention was drawn toa let ter dated 23-8-1945 writ ten by Sir F. Mudie (Home Memb er in theViceroy's Executive Council) to Sir E. Jenkins (Pr ivate Secretary to the

iceroy) (Pages 137-140) giving alternative proposals for dealing with NetajiSubhas Chandra Bose. It was contended that if Netaji had died on 18 Augost1945, such proposa ls would not have been given. Also, the news of Netaji'sdeath was first broadcast on that day itself i.e. 23 August 1945.

19. Attention of the Commission was also drawn to the minute or ameeting of India and Burma Committee of Brit ish Cabinet presided over tr ):,Pr ime Minis ter Att lee on October 25 1945 (Pages 402-406). The reles ant

"Treatment of Indian Civilian Renegades.

T he committee Wetted to a consideration of the pr incipals whichshould govern the trial and punishment of India civilian offenders. Thefollowing were the principal points raised in discussion:-

1) It was generally agreed that te only civilian renegadeimportance was Subhas Chandra Bose.

2)

3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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It ss as contended that this minute would not have been recorded if Netaji haddied in the pane crash.

20. A content ion was also ra ised tha t the s tory of the p lane cr a sh wascontr ived pur su ant t o a well l a id out p lan t o which the Jap anese mili t a ryauthor i ty was also a pa r ty to ensure Neta ji' s sa fe passage out of Japan andthe reach of the Allied Powers. The Commission has sta ted tha t such plan toescape could not have been thought of wi thout the active suppor t andcooperation of the Japanese mili t ary author i ty. The Commission has a lsosta ted tha t Neta ji ' s decision to go out of Japan and the r each of the All iedForces in the wake of the sur render of the Japanese was pur suant to a planformulated on the advice and with the active cooperation and suppor t of theJapanese milit a ry au thor it ies st ands es tab lished by overwhelming evidenceadduced before the Commit tee and the two Commissions and a detaileddiscussion on this issue will serve no purpose except increasing the volume ofthis report. Suffice it to say that on August 16 1945 while in Bangkok Netajihad a meet ing with Genera l Isoda, the Head of Hika r i Kikan and his ma intask was to lia ise between the Japanese Govt. and a combined group of IndiaIndependence League, Indian Na t iona l Army and the P rovis iona l Govt . ofFree India . Genera l Isoda testified that these plans were secret and thepurpose of Netaji' s night to Soviet Union was to cont inue his independencemovement f rom there.

21, It has a lso been contended before the Commiss ion tha t the s toin ofNetaji's dea th in the plane crash and of his cremation was concocted toensure the success of Netaji's escape plan by hoodwinking the Allied Forces.

22. Another significant fact that ra ises a ser ious doubt about the truth ofNetaji's death in the plane crash is the unusua l conduct of Habibur Rahtnanas evinced by his non -communication of the above news. If Netaji had reallydied in the manner a s a l leged, i t was expected tha t he (Habibar .Rahman)would, a s the onlx surviving member of INA, immedia tely r epor t about i t ,more so when it rela ted to the dea th of his Supr eme Comma nder to hissuper ior s in the army and his colleagues in Bangkok, Singapore, Saigon andTokyo. Ris such conspicuous silence cannot be explained in any way exceptthat he was playing a very vita l role a long with the Japanese army author ityin formulation and execution of Netaji's escape plan.

23. T he next circumstance that makes the story of the plane accidentsuspect is the non -as ailability of any document of the air crash. Even thoughthe Japanese were in control of Taipei till 25-10-1945 and an inquiry into theaccident was held as early as September 13, 1945 by a team of BritishIntelligence headed by Mr . Finney, but i t does not appea r tha t any a t temptwas made by them to look for the a irpor t records.

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24. Another circumstance that goes against the s tory of Netaji's death inthe plane crash on Augus t 18, 1945 a t T a ihoku and lends suppor t to theescape plan is the mes sage tha t was sent by the Chief of Sta ff , SouthernArmy to 0.C. , Kikar i Kikan on August 20, 1945 to say that 'T ' (code name ofNeta ji) had died a s a r esu lt of an accident and his body had been f lown to

Tokyo by the Formosan Army.

25. The other impediment before the Commiss ion to accept the s tory ofthe plane crash was the evidence of Shr i S.A. Ayer, ex-Publicitt antiPropaganda Minister of Azad Hind Government , as corroborated b therelevant passages of his Book t it led "Unto him a witness", At page 86 of thebook he has stated tha t he was informed of the dea th of Netaji by RearAdmiral Chuda of Japanese Navy on 20-8-1945 and that his r eques t to ecthe body of Netaji with his own eyes was not acceded to. It is dear f rom theevidence of Shr i Ayer that he r efused to believe tha t story unless he saw thedead body with his own eyes.

26. T he Commission has also given another cir cumstance which isper t inent to the is sue of the plane cra sh. During the Commission's vis it toTaiwan, the Cha irman r eques ted the concerned officers of the Taiwan CityGovernment to show the records on the bas is of which they had s ta ted tha tthere was no plane crash on August 18, 1945. They told him that theinformation was based solely on contemporaneous newspaper accounts keptin their archives. T he vi s i t o f the Cha ir man t o the ins ti tu te of T aiwaneseHistory and perusal of the microfilmed daily newspapers confirmed thatthere was no report of any plane crash on August 18, 1945. Had there beenany plane crash relat ing to the death of Neta ji , the facts would has,ecerta inly been published in the local daily 'Cent ra l Daily News'. Even thenews of lesser impor tance relat ing to Netaji was published in the saidnewspapers dated September 14, 1945 as given below -

Central Daily News, 14 September 1945

The India Government decided today to release the younger brother(s) and family of Bose who were deta ined s ince the beginning of the,Japanese war . The members belonging to the Bose family (elan) w/toopposed the Government will also be set free. T he officialannouncement sta tes, "in view of the Japanese sur render , ther e is noneed for detaining these people for a long t ime".

27. From the above, the Commission has concluded tha t on a conspectusof a l l the facts and circumstances relevant to the above issues it standsestablished that emplaning at Saigon on August 17, 1945, Netaji succeeded inevading the Allied Forces and escaping out of their reach and ascamouflage thereof the entire make -belief story of the air cra sh. Netaji's

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death therein and his cremation was engineered by the Japanese armyauthor i t ies including the two doctor s and Hsabibur Rahman and then airedon _August 23, 1945 through a s ta tement pr epa red by Shr i S .A. Ayer a t thedicta t ion of the aforesa id author i t ies to give impr imatur of the INA to thedeath news of Netaji. Obviously, in cooking up thestory of Netaji's death inthe plane crash and giving it a modicum of truth they (the Japanese military'au thor i t ies and Habibur Raman) had no other a l t erna tive than r esor t ing tosuppression of facts and in so doing they not only invited mater ia lcontradict ions in their evidence a s pointed out by the deponents and theirlearned Counsel, but also left la tent loopholes which have now beendiscovered. Though no f irm opinion can be expressed about Netaji' s exitpoint , i t can legit imately be inferred, -having regard to the es tab lished facttha t Habibur Rahtnan who accompanied him from Sa igon was next foundpresent in T aipei cooking up a s tory (a long with other s) of his death ther e,that Netaji disappeared therefrom (Taipei). But the question whether Netajither eaf ter landed in Russ ia or elsewhere cannot be answered for dea r th ofevidence.

28. As regards the journey of the ashes collected by H.abibur Rahmanfrom the crema tor ium at Taipei to the Renkoji Temple in Ja pa n, theevidence is cons istent and, therefore, needs no discussion. Since the ashescollected were of Ichiro Okura that can bedrawn is that the ashes lying in that temple cannot be of Netaji.

(iii) Death in Dehradun:

This version stems from the setting up of an Ashram by a Sadhuknown as Sha radanandji in about 1959 named and styled as "Shoulmari

at a placc called Falakata in the district of Couch Behar whichborders Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal. He stayed there for about 6/7 yearsand ult imately sett led down in Dehradun in 1973 and died there in 1977.

7 . Of the 11 witnesses examined on this score, eight have put forward thestory that the Sadhu was none other than Neta ji, while the other three havedisputed the claim. Before the Khosla Commission also some witnesses madea similar sta tement. Dist inguishing the Sadhu's appearance, accent and hismanner of speaking from those of Netaji, Niharandu Dut ta Ma jumdar , whodeposed before the Khosla Commission as witness No. KW 174, sta ted thatthe Sadhu did not resemble Netaji and he spoke the d ia lect of the Sylhetborder in East Bengal, whereas Netaji was a man of Cut tack (Orissa ) withhis ancestra l house in South 24-Parganas in West Bengal.

3. The Commission has concluded that when the real identi ty of a pesonis the issue, his evidence is undoubtedly of great importance unless, of course,it is proved tha t he was suppressing his identi ty with an oblique motive or

Page 23: Rit# i 3- - Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Papers

purpose and as in the instant case there is no rel iable evidence to prove thatthe Sadhu was Neta ji , the ques t ion of his (Neta ji 's ) dea th in Dehradun in1977 does not arise.

(iv) Death in Sheopurkalan:

One Shri Jaganna th Prosad Gupta , a resident of village Nagda in thedis t r ic t of Sheopurka lan (Madhya Pradesh) f i led a s t a tement suppor ted byan affidavit asser t ing that dur ing the days of struggle for freedom of India , aplane crash- landed in the neighbouring vil lage of Pandola and the threepersons who survived were a `Sadhu',- Col. Habibur Ra hman and Hitler.Later on, the 'Sadhu ' canie to their village and star ted living on the hank ofthe r iver nea rby. According to Shri Gupta, the Sadhu is none other thanNetaji and that he died on May 21, 1977. He also stated that after the deathof the Sadhu, the MP Govt. had seized al l records per ta ining to the Sadhoand those documents conta ined the proof of his ident i ty as Neta ji. T hreeother persons also supported Shri Gupta 's sta tement by affidwvits.Commiss ion examined a ll the four persons a t Sheopurkalan, and found thattheir cla im that the Sadhu was Netaji was wholly unfounded. The documentsseized by the MP Police a lso did not suppor t S r i Gupta 's content ion. T hestory of plane crash in 1946 was also found to be absurd on the face of it. So,the Commission rejected this cla im.

(v) Death in Faizabad:

The common case that ha s been made out before the Commiss ion h)three persons (suppor ted by aff idavit s ) is that a ft er the dea th of Stalin inMarch, 1953, Netaji escaped from the then Soviet Russia and after coming toIndia lived at different places in UP and last ly at `Rambhaw an' in l'saizabad.They also stated that in September 1985, he left Rambhawan for an unknowndestination leaving behind a large number of household ar t icles including hisfamily photos, books, letters and other documents in that house and thatcustody of the same was taken by the DM, Fa izabad and kept in the tr eashothere.

2. On thorough scrutiny of more than 2600 items lying there, -theCommission felt that about 700 of them might be relevant for its purpose andtook them to t iolkata . In a sser t ing their c la im tha t Neta ji l ived a t var iousplaces in the State of UP as an ascetic holy man under two different t ia ine.sviz. Cumnami Baba and Bhagwanji, 31 persons deposed before theCommiss ion. Some of them were left out as their evidence was based eitheron hearsay or based on belief without any substantia l mater ia l in forming thesame. Some were also excluded by the Commission as their cla im is based onthe result of their investigation into the mystery surrounding Gumnami Babaas also several ar ticles they wrote in newspapers, magazines etc. Evidence of

Page 24: Rit# i 3- - Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Papers

some were not enter ta ined as they admit ted that they had not seenGumnami Baba .

3. T he Commiss ion ha s pointed out tha t the r epor t s of the exper t s , towhom the handwrit ings appea r ing in some books and jour na ls f ou nd inRambhawan were sent for compar ison with the a dmit t ed handwr it ings ofNetaji, mater ia lly differ . The Commiss ion a lso sent f ive t eeth out of nine,found in Rambhawan along with samples of blood collected from twodescendants on the fa ther 's side and three descendants on the mother ' s s ideof Netaji to the Centr a l Forensic Science Labora tory, Kolkata , for DNAprofiling test to fix the ident ity of t he per s on to whim the t eeth belonged.After subjecting three of the five teeth to the above test , Dr . V.K. Kashyap,DNA exper t and Director of the Laboratory, submitted a detailed report withthe following opinion

"From the morphological examination and analysis of SRY gene, nitDNA (HVS I & HVS II), and Y-STR loci in the forwarded Exhibits I-10, it can be concluded that forwarded teeth (Exhibits 2 to 4) belong toa single human aged male individua l (a l leged Gumnami Baba). T he

source of the teeth does not belong to either ma terna l orpaternal DNA lineage of Netaji Subhas Chandr a Bose, therefore,cannot be of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose."

The Commission has, therefore, sta ted in conclusion in this chapterthat in absence of any clinching evidence to prove that Bhagwanji /GumnainiBaba was Netaji, the question whether he (Netaji) died in Faizabad onSeptember 16, 1985, as testified by some of the witnesses, need not: beansw ered.

CHAPTER FIVE CONCLUSION

The Commission has given the conclusion in this chapter on the basisof the discussions made in chapter four of the report The response of theCommission to the terms of reference is set out below in a tabula r form -

Terms of reference in theNotification

(a) whether Neta ji SubhasCha ndr a Bose is dead oralive;

Conclusion of theCommission

(a) Netaji SubhasChandra Bose is dead;

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- 1(b) if he i s dea d, whether (b) He did not die in the 1he died in the p lane cra sh, plane crash, as alleged;as alleged

(c) whether the ashes in (c) T he ashes in thethe Japanese temple are Japanese t emple a r e notashes of Nataji; of Netaji;

(d) whether he has died in (d) In absence of anyany ot her ma nner at any clinching evidence aother place and, if so, positive answer cannot

ovhen and hovv; be given;- 1

rl (e) if he is alive, in respect (e) Answer already given 111 of his whereabouts. in (a) above. ,

Rega rding the ancillary query (vide paragraph 3 of the Notifica tion,the Commission is of the view that consequent upon i ts above f indings , theCent ral Government can proceed on the basis tha t he is dead but did not diein the plane crash, as alleged.

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SI. Issue/fact/point/ j Comments of Shah Nawal Comments of Khosla Comments of JusticeNo. circumstance Committee on this Cnnimission on this Mukher jee Commission of

rquiry on this1. Evidence of t he plane "I t will thus be seen that the "After giving the most "So far, the evidence

crash and absence of ca idence given by witnesses am :wits consideration to ail regarding Netaji's death in thecontemporaneous before us as to Netriji's death isdocuments corroborated by the findings of

British and Amer icanIntelligence organizations whounder took independentenquir ies very soon after theoccurrence, and the conclusionsof an unofficial enquiryconducted a yea r la ter by anIndian journalist . Aa for thewitnesses who have deposedbefore us, neither from theirantecedents, nor from themanner in which they mu le

! their sta tements, has theCommit tee any reason todisbelieve theirMost of the Japanese witnessesare not now connected with theGovernment of Jap an, and a r e

.To no ; ay obliged to g-i,refo ::gt,

faet "t4.aao.;;( oh Uonn do_

the available evidence, thecr it icism to which thestatements of the var iouswitnesses were subjectedand the argumentsadvanced by counsel, I havereached the conclusion thatthe story of the airerash atthe Ta ihoku airfield inTaiwan and the subsequentdea th of Bose, resultingfrom burn injuriessustained by him in thecrash must be believed.This story is substantia tedby the testimony of whellyindeparkicat witnesses, fourof whom were Bose'spassengers in the planewhich erashed. O n e

doctor Ivito aoArtded to himthet joi`it:r,

of

plane crash and his cremationhas been discussed keeping inview the submissions made bysome of the deponents andtheir learned Counsel (exceptthose relating to thecontradict ions in the evidenceof the witnesses as pointed outby them to which referencewill be made later on)and theappraisal thereof has yieldedthe a) [here is no satisfactoryevidence, of the plane crash; onthe contrary, the story givenout in that respect is ratherimprobable;10 In absence of anycontemporaneous record inthe hospital, the Bureau and/or the cremator ium, the oralaecount of the witnesses of"actaji's death aml cremationeannot be relied upon to arr ive

a definit ive finding on the

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Taiboku Military Hospital on truth."the night of the 18th August 4.128)1945. We accept thisconclusion." (Page 34-35para 10).

_2. ' British and American "Soon after the end of j"The

Intelligence hostilities, the Government of mustorganizations based India sent two parties of fire,their report solely on Intelligence offiers (police) porti.oral evidence, headed by Messrs. Finney and they

Davies to the Far East to kept

(Page 49 -para basis thereof; andC) A secret plan was contrivedto ensure Netaji's safe passageto which Japanese militaryauthority and HabiburRahman were parties" (Page

papers in the planehave perished in thebecause the front

n of the plane wherewould normally be

was completelyenquire about the whereabouts destroyed. .. .. It is onlyof Netaji Subhas Chandra conjecture that such papersBose, and if possible, to arrest must have been preparedhim. Two Indian police officers ergo, their non -productionwho were in those parties, Mr. disproves the crash story. ItMX. Roy and Mr. K.P. De, is against reason, commonappeated before us and gave sense and the rules ofevidence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . The evidence to base aconclusion of the police officers conclusion on such anwas that Netaji had died as aresult of air crash, and they

unjustifiable and unsubs-tantiated assumption. Page

reported to the Government of 39 --pant 4.86)India accordingly. Aparallel enquiry was conducedabout the same time at tht,!instance of the Director of :

IN'tilitary Intelligence, India , *orAdrni.IA o d Vou ntb aNe 0.licaglquar ters at

' after August 23, 1945,1when the news of Netaji'sdeath was broadcast, andprior to the appointment of theShah Nawaz Committee by theGovernment of India on April5, 1956 quite a number ofinquiries were held at thebehest of the British andAmerican Intelligenceauthorities to ascertain thetruth. Reports of theseinquiries indicate that theybased their findings relyingsolely upon the oral testimonyof some witnesses withoutcaring to search for therelevant records of Taihoku

zrport, the Army Hospital,nipe i Municipal Bureau of

, realth and 11 1,,iene (`Bureauro- short) and Taipei City

ematurium to test theacity of their assertion and,

in case no such record was

Page 28: Rit# i 3- - Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Papers

' t hrough Col. F.G. Figgess, atthat t ime attached to Genera lMacAr t hur ' s Headqua r ter s atTokyo, about Netaji SbyhasCha ndra Bose. . . . . . . . . Theconclusion reached from thsereports was that Netaji haddied of burns at Taipeh as aresult of the a ir cr ash. " (Page

i II _ L: Absence of cremation ". . . . About the crema tion, the,I certificate makes the evidence has come from

plane erasn storydoubtful

44bich

twoJapanese, one indian(Pakis tani) , and one Formosanwitness. T heir stor ies closel!,cor robora te each other . T hereis no reason why thesewitnesses of different or iginshould tell the same ston ,unless they themselves tookpa n in the events theydescr ibed. T here has been no:;uggestion of disposal ofNeta ji ' s body in any other waybut by e rental ion at thetailioku Crema t or ium. (Pnge

i l ' A i (14.

1 found, to incorporate that fact-17in their respective report s."

4.6.11)

"I, therefore, find it proved " ....... the absence of deathbeyond all reasonable doubt certificate of Netaji filedthat Bose traveled in . a before the Bureau, theJapanese bomber from application seeking permissionTouraine to T a ihoku on the to cremate his dead body, themorning of 18 th August, permit granted for his1945._ The plane cremation and an entry in thecrashed to the ground, cremation register in proof ofbroke into two parts and the cremation makes thecaught fire. In this fir e the evidence of the witnesses, whopilot i;nd Genl. Shidei died testified to Netaji's death andinstan oieoislv and of the cremation, vulnerable andother men on board. the co- raises a strong reasonable andpilot A.N oagi died la ter and bona fide doubt about theBose also succumbed In his mory of his death by airburn injur ies dur ing the cnIsh."course of the f(illovk - g ezld)night. Si is ho wasVYTIll'at it'd a n d aS,11CS NVOtr .

, t a k Ci n ' ' :' i-.' r,i);14.:..v 44 -

441y;,30.4-lin,r, t;1: 'A'' 4,,1 +& C t l : , t h e " 1 ' M i l l h i S evidence Habibur

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r-5.

;lane ne.se-d;ved. ' have given differ ent estanates wittvcsse atecl:

of the height, but most of them The pl4-e star ted, usingsay that the maNimum height almost the full length of thegained was about 30 meters. runway, and teeth off', and at

. . . . Mr. A. M.N. Sastri, an 30-40 meters above theAircraft Inspector of the ground, the plane leanedDireetorate Genera l of CZ i ll tow ards the giAviation. Government of India , (Page 4.30)has said, in answer to a "T he story of the crash isquest ion, that cons ider ing that na r r a ted by, him (Tarothe aircraft left the ground 50 Kono) iv) the followingmeters before the end of the terms:runway and sta r ted climbing, After we took off and thethe figure of 30 to 40 metres alt itude was about 20-30given by witness Captain metres from the ground, theNakamura alas Yamamoto left propeller was blown offappeared to him to be and the left engine was tornreasonable." (Page 19 -- para off . . . . . . " (Page 24 para11) 4.33)

Rahman) it is seen that notonly he test ified to the abovefact but went on further to saythat the plane nosedived froma fairly high altitude "possiblyover 12-14000 feet". If thisev idence of Habihar Rahmanis to be believed then none of

could have survived." (Page 89para 4.12.6)

Non -availability of any "In, fact, as will be seen, "T he papers in the plane "The next c ircumstance thatdocument of the air different witnesses have given must have perished in the makes the story of the accidentcrash makes the story different stor ies, which would fire, because the front suspect is The non -availabilityof the accident suspect ; disprove any suggestion of , por t ion of the plane where of any document of the a ir

"promot ing". So,notwithstanding discrepanciesand va r ia t ions, which ar c onlytoo . l ikd af ter the lapse of so

they would normall3 bekept was completelydes troyed. It is onlyconjecture i:haa soel) papers

crash. Even though theJapanese were in control ofTaipei till October 25, 1945

hen the Chinese took over)Ma n y ears, the statemien6: of must have bcen IBA an inquiry into thewiinesses ennst be 0,ketv .s ergo, they )inn-producti(i:ii.ii 2.4 7ident was held as early as

41' t r ed 4 , Thv.se disproN. s b i oory., 1 4.1. Sv.:,7.)tember 13, 1945 by.. a teamh o i t is .against 0 iiu itish Intelligence headed

en qui dr.d. FhlrieV it does not

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1 non -official channels S n o r t afterthe events. They all point to thefact that Netaji SubhasChatith-4 Buse died at T aihokuMilitary Hospita l on the nightof the 18th August 1945. Weaccept this conclusion." (Page35 -Ta ra 10 .

6. Shr i S.A. Ayer ' s views "T he news (about Netaji'sin his book "UN T O dea th in the plane crash) wasHIM A WIT NESS" broken to Mr. S.A. Ayer by Lt.

Col. Tada, who was flying withhim to T okyo, on the af ternoonof the 20 th a t Ca nt on . " (Page31 para 6)

evidence to base a ,conclusion on such an 'unjustifiable and unsubs-tantia ted assumption. (Page39 -para 4.86)

r"It is clear, however , thatthe witness ultimatelyaccepted the crash story,because at Tokyo, hereceived Netaji's ashes atthe Imper ia l JapaneseHeadquar ters and helped tocarry them to the RenkojiTemple. He treated theashes with the reverencedue t o hi s lea der . . . . " (page36- para 4 .71)"1yer prepared a report inwhich he discussed the storyof the fatal a ir crash inconsiderable detail. l heview expressed by him 1%:*that Netaji bad, in raci,succumbed toSUSth'WM by him iU fl i

oircrash on the aiholoairfield, lie wept on to S3N

.4 C1)1EtitiSiOrt r tdcir tpea t that have no.:.

appear that any at tempt wasmade by them to look for theAirport records." (Page 91 -Para 4.12.8)

"The other impediment to theacceptance of the story of theplane crash is furnished by theevidence of Shri S.A. Ayer, ex-Publicity and PropagandaMinister of Azad HindGovernment a s corrobora tedby the relevant passages of hisbook t it led "UNTO HIM AWITNESS' (Ex 308). ... . . .From Shri Ayer 's evidencereferred to above it is manifestthat on receiving the news ofNetaji's death he refused tobelieve that he had died in thepi ne crash . . . . . . ." (Page 93 -Para 4.12.11)

ipc

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7. I Escape theory 44

fa intest doubt in my mindthat the ashes that areenshr ined in the Renkojitemple in Tokyo are ofNetajigs..." 4.72)"T he witness has writ ten abook "UNT O 111M AWIT NESS", and in thisbook also the witnessreiterated his belief thatBose's plane had crashedand he had died atTaihoku ..... (Page 36 -para 4.73)

T he Japanese "I am not prepared toGovernment helped him to accept the contention thatescape, and they haNe, the eatir& militarytherefore, put out an elabora te organiza tion of jap an haddeception story which is entered'onto a conspiracy tosupported by Japanese put forward a fa lse story inwitnesses. As for Col. Habibur or der to cover up Bose'sRehman, he is bound by an escape. Such a hypothesis isoath of secrecy and his injur ies foreign to reason awl toare faked. These are large huma n na tu re. Most of thepresumptions. As has been witnesses who gave el itiencestated before, there is a great impressed me by their fr ankdeal of eyidenee that the plane ; and honest demeanourhad crashed aud NiAaji had . 'xi- is oal:s neeessan todied. There i no reason to as that this cr it iciqn :l iesdishvlic+c :17v otiwv-nms not Oivkc the ,Jr-ta;20

to Japanese , the 1, Aue of the es nlEecee.-

"On a conspectus of all thefacts and circumstancesrelevant to the above issues itstands established thatemplaning at Saigon onAugust 17, 1945 Netajisucceeded in evading theA hied Forces and escaping outof their reach and as acazuouflage thereof the entirernake-belief story of the aircrash, Netajr s dea th therein:IA his cremation wasea4..!,ineered by the Japanese

ty authorit ies . ..." (Pagepara 4.12.18)

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1 Ashes of Netaji

rarid other nations. e'rom ,medical evidence it appear sclear that the injuries of (o1Rehman were genuine. If l iewas under an oath of secrecy,surely the others, par t icular lythe Japanese witnesses, werenot. Vet they havecorrobora ted each other . Sothe line of reasoning of thisschool cannot be accepted."(Pne 35 -36 pa !a 11)"F rom wha t has been said, itwill be seen that the ashes weremoved in stages from thecremator ium to Nishi Honganjitemple, fr om there to MinamiAerodrome, and thence toTokyo Imperial Genera lHeadquar ters . T he progressthereafter was from theImperial Genera lHeadqua r ter s , first to Mr .Ramamu r t i ' s house, and thento Mrs. Sahwi house, andtinath in the Renkoji temple.There is no break in the chain."

50 - para 7)After leaving eNamined

statewent of theseis is de ar tint; the

for doubting that the

( P a l

t he',At(

(Page 49 - para 4.128)

"1, therefore, find it proved I"As regards the journey of thebeyond all reasonable doubt ashes collected by Habiburthat Bose traveled in a Rahman from theJapanese bomber from cremator ium at Taipei to theTouraine to Taihoku on the Renkoji Temple in Japan themorning of 18 th August, ex idenee is consistent and,1945. , . . . . . . . . . . . The plane therefore, needs no discussion.crashed to the ground, I Since the ashes collected werebroke into two parts and of Ichi rol lku ra - not of Netajicaught fire. In this fire the - the only inference that canpilot and Gent . Shute' died he drawn is that the ashesinstantaneously and of the lying in that temple cannot heother men on boa rd. the cc- of Netaji". (Page 107 parapilot Apnigi died later and 4,12.19)Bose also succumbed ko i isburn injur ies duringcourse of the folio"night, His body ).) ,

a nd n,:hes vktaken to Fols. 0." (l ' ige

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ashes did not belong to Netaji,ar e either based oninsubstantia l grounds, or onwrong fact s and ther efore have .to be disca rded. " (Page 53 -para - 10).

9. Dr. Yoshimi whotreated Netaji in theTa ihoku militaryhospital

"Dr. Yoshitni has s ta ted tha t a tabout 7 or 7-30 P.M. he wasinformed by Dr. Tsuruta thatNetaji's condit ion haddeter iora ted and his pulse wasvery weak

para 4.129)

8

"Discussion on this point willnot, however be completeunless the par t played by Dr.Yoshimi on this issue iscommented upon. T he

Short ly 26 - Para 4.37) absence of any record rela t ingafter 8P.M. he breathed his But the important to Netaji's death andlast. He ma de out a medical point is that there was no cremation (in respect of whichcer tificate of death in respect of reason whatsoever for Dr. he cla imed to have played athe deceased, writ ing him name Voshimi to make up wholly pivotal role) clearlyin Japanese (Kata Kana ) as false story and depose to it demonstrates that he was not"Chandra Bose" and giving the on oath. Dr. Yoshimi telling the t ruth. .. .. . . . Dr .cause of dea th as "b ur ns of s t ruck me as an eminently N'Oshimi's failure to give anythird degree". (Page 30 - para5).

. . . . . . . . Dr . Yoshimi says thattears were rolling down Col.Rehma n' s eyes. The nurseswere crying loudly . F ery wdypresent in t i i'. room was ery ing.in fact , descr ibiog this poignantscene before the Commit tee.Dr. Voshini himself !wokeOttY, n a d audibls,

-

Dr . Voshimi waspresent when Bose died,later the same night, and heprepared a death cer t ificatewhich he s igned. . . . . " (Page

respectable individualwhose status in life andV hose professional pridewould prevent hint frotncommit t ing perjur:t in a ,case with w be w as ino way persomilly o ,nationall enneeriqed.,(Page 35 - parft -4,644

., ., T he Docioi', tootal '& res. i .b i t a nti,..t

int ss

reason, much less asatisfactory one, for belatedpreparation of the copy, hissta tement before theCommittee that he did notIswtss what had happened tothe hospital records after hisitt par ture therefrom on,bmuary 21, 1946 and the

' port of the inquiry officer ofFormosan Government to

03( effect that the hospital_ _____

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' e s I

t ie,

Inquiry conducted by kugost 1946, i.e. the yearHarin Shah after the events, Mr . Harin

Shah, an Indian journalist,visited Formosa at theinvita tion of the Chiang Kai-shek Government . There hetook up enquiry on his ownabout Netaji. Mr . Shah cameacross a number of Formosanswho had something to say as towha t happened to Netaji atTaiboku. Ile met some mediealstudents, who had heard thatNetaji had been severelyinjured as a result of the aircrash, and that a Japanesemedica l s tudent dona ted bloodfor transfusion. He alsoexamined at length a Formosannur se, Sister T san P i Sha, whosaid that she was in a t tendanceOn Netaji at the NaumonMilitary Hospital, She gavevonTct de -r iOolt of Netaji,aftd C 1 Rehraval. ;;ht- cAtt h id

9

(Page 49 Para 4.128) records were not available (as 7noticed earlier) clearlyindicate that the abovedocument carrot but be aotanufacture'one." (Page 74-75 ura 4.8)

"In this connection I ma, an inquiry towards thatrefer to Hari') Shah, a end was under taken for thenewspaper reporter , who first time by Shr i Har in Shah,paid a visit to Taipei at the the Editor of "Indian Worker "end of August 1946. He ... .. Towards the end ofmade an investigation into August, 1946 he paid a visitthe story of the air crash toTaipei and made an inquiryand Bose's death. 'hele into the story of the air crashclaimed to have obtained ad of Netaji's death. .. hethe two above mentioned called on the Director of thedocuments from the Bureau at his (the Director's)municipal records at Taipei office in Taipei and asked for

Ila r in Shah, in 1956, records with regard to thepublished a book named death ad cremation of Netaji. . ."Verdict from Formosa After search those two clerksGALL AN T END OF produced ... . the followingNETAJ1 Subhas ChandraBose". The theme of t hi i i) the doctor 's repor t on thebook is that the story of the that of Netaji;crash of Bose's death had ii the police officer 's repor t ;been proved he, (Mid all anddou bt tb e io Shah iii) the certificate issued h theemu essed the view thai Bureau permitt ing cremation.titoug,h the partk ulars The doctor 's repor t r eadsin the tw °documents do not. ;se, follow S t

V r t -J1 ,4, , V , 1 h the Arm:, Hospital

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I died at the hospital at i i t documents, in fact, relate to 10 the Bureau of Health and! night . . .. . . . He was satisfied on him and therefore prove his hygiene

the strength of his enquiries death and subsequent Date of the Report: 21°I that Netaji had died at Taihaku cremation. He attributed August, 1945.1 as a result of the air accident." the discrepant!) to a desire Certificate of the Death:

(Page 34-- para 9). on the part of the Japanese Name of the: Okara Ichiroto keep thematter of Hose's persondeath a complete secret." Sex : Male(Page Birth: Born in the Meiti 2 2 nd

"The death certificate Year April 9.describes the deceased as Reason of: By sicknessOkara !chin), male, born on DeathApril 9, 1901. The cause of Nature of sickness: Heart-death is mentioned as heart- Failure

(Page 41 Time of death: 19th August4.96). 4 p.m."It is clear that neither the ..,..name nor the date of birth I'[he name of: Chbulutaof the deceased mentioned Doctor and Toyojiin these two documents is The seal Chentzetruly descriptive of Bose..." ,(Page 42 para 4.97)"The argument is in thenature of non -sequitur, torvv hat does not relate to anevent, cannot he used todisprove it. It istantamount to raising aphantou and thendestroying it. 1 dtr not,thererore, ic ci theeor t . thes(7

10

In his book titled "Gallant endof Netaji (Ext. 295) Shri Shahreproduced copies of the

iviated to ichura Okara or

doctor's report ..... wrote inhis book and also testified

the Committee thatev on though the particularsgi en in those documents

Otoira tchiro, those doetiments_,

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1 1

documents reLi te to BoseIt in fact related to Netaji's deathand that thc: disprove the and cremation." (Page 60-62 factum of his death." (Page 4.6.13)43 para 4.99 end)

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SecretCopy No. YO

No.12014/8/2005-NCB.IIGovernment of India/Bharat Sarkar

Ministry of Home Affairs/Grih Mantralaya** *

Dated: May 4, 2006.

NOTE FOR CABINET

Sub: Report of Justice Mukherjee Commission of Inquiry on the allegeddisappearance of

Background

The controversy over the death of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose surfaced after the

announcement from Tokyo on August 23, 1945 that Netaji had died in a plane crash on

August 18, 1945. After independence, there was a popular demand for an inquiry into

the alleged death/disappearance of Netaji. The Government of India appointed a three-

member Committee headed by Shri Shah Nawaz Khan in 1956 "To enquire into and

report to the Government of India on the circumstances concerning the departure of

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose from Bangkok about the 16thAugust 1945, his alleged death

as a result of an aircraft accident, and subsequent developments connected therewith".

While Shri Shah Nawaz Khan and Shri S.N. Maitra of the Committee came to the

conclusion that Netaji had died in the plane crash on August 18, 1945, Shri Suresh

Chandra Bose, the other member of the Committee, differed and did not sign the report.

The majority report was accepted by the Government of India.

2. However, because of continual demand for a fresh inquiry into the matter, the

Government of India, in exercise of the powers conferred under the Commissions of

Inquiry Act, 1952, appointed the Justice G.D. Khosla Commission in July 1970 to

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"inquire into all the facts and circumstances relating to the disappearance of Netaji

Subhas Chandra Bose in 1945 and the subsequent developments connected

therewith and make its report to the Central Government". This Commission also

came to the conclusion that Netaji had succumbed to his injuries sustained in the

plane crash at Taihoku and that his ashes had been taken to Tokyo. The

Government of India accepted this report.,

3.0 Appointment of Justice Mukheriee Commission of Inquiry

3.1 The findings of the Khosla Commission also did not put an end to the

controversy surrounding Netaji's death. There was consistent demand for fresh

inquiry into this matter. In a Writ Petition filed before the Kolkata High Court,

a Division Bench, by its judgment dated 30th April, 1998, directed the Union of

India to re -inquire into the alleged disappearance of Netaji, in accordance with law,

by appointing a Commission of Inquiry. This was followed by a motion adopted

by the West Bengal Legislative Assembly on December 24, 1998 demanding that

the Government of India should enable public access to all records and documents

to demystify the matters in and outside India pertaining to the whereabouts of

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.

3.2 Consequently, on 14th May, 1999, (copy of Notification is annexed at

Annex ure I) the Government of India appointed the Justice Mukherjee

Commission of Inquiry (JMCI) headed by Justice M.K. Mulcherjee, Retired Judge

of the Supreme Court, to inquire into all the facts and circumstances related to the

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disappearance of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in 1945 and subsequent

developments connected therewith, including

(a) whether Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose is dead or alive;

(b) if he is dead, whether he died in the plane crash, as alleged;

(c) whether the ashes in the Japanese temple are ashes of Netaji;

(d) whether he has died in any other manner at any other placeand, if so, when and how; and

(e) if he is alive, in respect of his whereabouts.

4.0 Findings of JMCI

JMCI, after examining 131 witnesses, visiting U.K., Japan, Taiwan,

Bangkok and the Russian Federation and sieving through 308 exhibits, has

submitted its findings on 8' November, 2005

(a) Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose is dead.

(b) He did not die in the plane crash, as alleged.

(c) The ashes in the Japanese temple are not of Netaji.

(d) In the absence of any clinching evidence a positive answer cannot

be given.

(e) Answer already given in (a) above.

4.2 (i) On (a), the JMCI has stated that Netaji is dead because the average

Indian's life span is 70 -- 75 years and Netaji would have been more than 108 years

old now (his date of birth being 23-1-1897).

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(ii) On (b), the JMCI has concluded that Netaji did not die in the plane crash

as documentary evidence such as medical certificate, cremation certificate, plane

crash records etc. are not available.

(iii) On (c), the JMCI has stated that since the ashes collected were of

lying in that temple cannot be of Netaji.

(iv) On (d) and (e), the JMCI has stated that none of the versions regarding

Netaji's death stands substantiated. Hence, the only legitimate inference that can

be drawn is that "Netaji is no more".

5.0 Limitations and constraints mentioned by the Commission

5.1 The Commission has mentioned its limitations and constraints in Chapter

Two of the Report. The Commission has observed that the following files/

documents, which were not produced, would have been of assistance in answering

the terms of reference :-

i) File No. 12(226)/56 -PM (Investigation into the circumstances leadingto the death of Subhas Chandra Bose),

ii) 'Contemporary official records' referred to by Prime MinisterMorarji Desai in the Lok Sabha on 28-8-1978,

iii) Some records of the proceedings/documents exhibited before theKhosla Commission, and

iv) Two British Government files.

5.2 As regards (i), the Director, PMO, by letter dated 4-7-2000 had stated that

file No. 12(226)/56 -PM which contained agenda paper/cabinet decision regarding

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Investigation into the circumstances leading to the death of Shri Subhas Chandra

Bose was destroyed in 1972 in course of routine review/weeding of old records

"records of Cabinet proceedings are kept permanently in Cabinet Secretariat, from

where they may be procured". However, according to letter dated 31-10-2000 of

Deputy Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, "their organization had no record relating to

the events as it was formed only on September 21, 1968."

5.3 As regards (ii) above, the Commission has observed that it found it

extremely difficult to persuade itself of the non -availability of contemporary

official records which were referred to by Prime Minister Morarji Desai in reply to

a motion moved by Prof. Samar Guha in the Lok Sabha on 28-8-1978 viz. "There

have been two enquiries into the report of the death of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose

in the air -crash on 18th August 1945 ..... The majority report of the first Committee

and Shri Khosla held the report of the death as true. Since then, reasonable doubts

have been cast on the correctness of the conclusions reached in the two reports and

various important contradictions in the testimony of witnesses have been noticed,

some further contemporary official documentary records have also become

available. In the light of those doubts and contradictions and those records,

Government find it difficult to accept that the earlier conclusions are decisive."

But no such 'further contemporary official documentary records' was available in

the PM0, the MEA. the Cabinet Secretariat and the MHA. Referring to file No.

2/64/78 -PM, Joint Secretary, F'MO, wrote to say that the materials in the file

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merely included letters from non -Government personalities with reference to old

newspapers and notes thereon.

5.4 Regarding (iii) above, the Commission was provided with all available

records pertaining to the proceedings of the Khosla Commission. Some records of

Khosla Commission could, however, not be retrieved in spite of vigorous efforts

and, therefore, could not be supplied p the Commission for its scrutiny. An

affidavit to this effect was provided to the Commission by the then Joint Secretary

(Internal Security), MHA.

5.5 Regarding (iv) above, in the course of inquiry, the Commission went to

England to study relevant files and records of some libraries and offices. The

Commission was, however, withheld access to some papers from the files of

Intelligence and Security agencies (reportedly not containing any additional

information relating to Netaji's death) by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of

the British Government on the ground that they were 'closed.'.

5.6 At the behest of the Commission, the MEA requested the Government of

United States of America to make available to the Commission all declassified

documents on Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose/INA in their possession including those

of CIA and McArthur papers. The response of the Director of Textual Archives

Services Division was positive, while the US Embassy in India stated that they did

not have any documents relevant to the period of Netaji's disappearance. Taking a

cue from the US Embassy's letter dated 23-6-2003, the Commission requested

MEA to engage some suitable willing scholars or students to do the job of

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archival research on Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose at various American repositories.

MEA has since informed vide their letter dated 5-4-2006 that the "Mission in

Washington DC had not found the researchers as requested by the JMCI till the

time of the Commission writing its report."

5.7 The Commission has also mentioned that they were not able to proceed

further on the matter of DNA testing of the ashes lying in the Renkoji Temple,

Tokyo, because of the reticence of the Temple authorities to accord their consent to

physical inspection and collection of potentially less charred bone pieces from the

casket lying in their custody.

6.0 Observations on the findings of the Commission

6.1 The earlier Committee and Commission which enquired into the matter

came to the conclusion that Netaji died from burn injuries sustained in the plane

crash at Taihoku on 18thAugust, 1945.

6.1.1 The Shah Nawaz Committee has stated in their report that "It will thus be

seen that the evidence given by witnesses before us as to Netaji's death is

corroborated by the findings of British and American Intelligence organizations

who undertook independent enquiries very soon after the occurrence, and the

conclusions of an unofficial enquiry conducted a year later by an Indian journalist.

As for the witnesses who have deposed before us, neither from their antecedents,

nor from the manner in which they made their statements, has the Committee any

reason to disbelieve their stories." The Committee also stated that "Most of the

Japanese witnesses are not now connected with the Government of Japan, and are

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in no way obliged to give evidence according to any particular brief." The

Committee, thus, concluded that "They all point to the fact that Netaji Subhas

Chandra Bose died at Taihoku Military Hospital on the night of 18th August, 1945.

We accept this conclusion."

6.1.2 On this point, the Khosla Commission recorded that "After giving the most

anxious consideration to all the available evidence, the criticism to which the

statements of the various witnesses were subjected and the arguments advanced by

counsel, I have reached the conclusion that the story of the air crash at the Taihoku

airfield in Taiwan and the subsequent death of Bose, resulting from burn injuries

sustained by him in the crash must be believed. This story is substantiated by the

testimony of wholly independent witnesses, four of whom were Bose's co-

passengers in the plane which crashed, one is the doctor who attended to him and

signed the death certificate."

6.2 The basis of JMCI's response to terms of reference (b) is the non-

availability of papers relating to the plane crash. In this regard, the Khosla

Commission observed that "the papers in the plane must have perished in the fire,

because the front portion of the plane where they would normally be kept was

completely destroyed." It also observed that "It is only conjecture that such papers

must have been prepared ergo, their non -production disproves the crash story. It

is against reason, common sense and the rules of evidence to base a conclusion on

such an unjustifiable and unsubstantiated assumption."

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6.3 As regards the ashes kept in the Renkoji Temple of Tokyo as contained in

(c) of the terms of reference, the JMCI's conclusion that the ashes in the Japanese

temple are not of Netaji, is based on the fact that the death of one Okara Ichiro has

been passed off as that of Netaji.

6.4.1 Shah Nawaz Committee's findings on ashes is that "From what has been

said, it will be seen that the, ashes were moved in stages from the crematorium to

Nishi Honganji temple, from there to Minami Aerodrome, and thence to Tokyo

Imperial General Headquarters. The progress thereafter was from the Imperial

General Headquarters, first to Mr. Ramamurti's house and then to Mrs. Sahay's

house, and finally to the Renkoji temple. There is no break in the chain." The

Committee also concluded that "So, although there cannot be absolute certainty,

nevertheless, it can be said that, in all probability, the ashes kept in Renkoji temple,

Tokyo, are the ashes of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose."

6.4.2 The death certificate relating to Ichiro Okura was also produced before the

Khosla Commission which held that "It is clear that neither the name nor the date

of birth of the deceased mentioned in these two documents is truly descriptive of

Bose." Thereafter the Commission observed that "The argument is in the nature of

non -sequitur, for what does not relate to an event, cannot be used to disprove it. It

is tantamount to raising a phantom and then destroying it. I do not, therefore,

accept the contention that these documents relate to Bose and that they disprove the

factum of his death."

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6.5 The MCI contacted some experts in India and abroad to conduct a

successful DNA test on the mortal remains preserved in the Renkoji Temple. Most

experts expressed doubt about the success of a DNA test on bone samples which

had been subjected to high temperatures. Only one foreign company agreed to

attempt mitochondrial DNA analysis of the remains, provided recognizable teeth or

other anatomically identifiable parts, remain. The Commission sought such

assurance from the Temple authorities; but finally stated that it had not been able to

get this DNA test done because of "reticent attitude" of the temple authorities, and

their reminders to the MEA in this regard evoked no response.

6.5.1 Regarding non -receipt of response from MEA about the DNA test, MEA

have since informed (in reply to D.O. letter dated 30-3-2006), that "It is MEA's

understanding that the Head Priest of Renkoji Temple has agreed to the DNA

testing of the alleged remains of Netaji kept in his temple in Tokyo, with the only

conditions being that the names of his father and himself be recognized wherever

the remains are finally interred and that if possible, he be allowed to retain any part

of the remains so that he can continue to pray for the soul of Netaji."

6.5.2 In response to D.O. letter dated 3-4-2006, the Director, Centre for Cellular

and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad (where facilities are now available for study of

ancient DNA), by his letter dated 4-4-2006 has since opined that "There is hardly

any piece of bone apparently unburnt. Based on our past experience of trying to

isolate DNA from such type of forensic samples, I can confidently say that there is

hardly any possibility (may be about 1%) of getting any DNA at all. I would also

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like to point out that if we make an attempt to isolate DNA with such a low

possibility, the total ashes will be used up in the process, and nothing will be left."

6.5.3 In the light of the views expressed by the Director, CCMB, Hyderabad, it is

apparent that no useful purpose may be served even if the mortal remains

preserved in the Renkoji Temple of Tokyo are obtained and put to DNA testing.

Conclusion

7. The Government may, therefore, regretfully accept the findings of JMC1

that Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose is dead and that it may not be now possible to

comprehensively establish the circumstances of his death. However, the

Government may not accept the finding of JMCI that he did not die in the plane

crash since the absence of documents does not conclusively disprove the plane

crash in the face of overwhelming oral evidence of those who survived the crash.

Proposal

8. The proposals contained in para 7 above are placed before the Cabinet for

approval. Approval of the Cabinet is also solicited to the Action Taken Report

annexed at Annexure II.

9. Implementation Schedule is given in the Appendix.

10. Home Minister has seen and approved the Note.

I . k.ks,AAAAA.Place:New Delhi. (B. Bhamathi)Date: 4.5.2006. Joint Secretary to the Government of India

ToCabinet Secretariat,Rashtrapati Bhawan, New Delhi.

SecretPage 11 of 15

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SecretNo. 12014/8/2005-NCB11Ministry of Home Affairs

APPENDIX

No. 12014/8/2005-NCB.IIGovernment of India

Ministry of Home Affairslc * *

STATEMENT OF IMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULE

Subject: Report of Justice Mukherjee Commission of Inquiry on allegeddisappearance ofTaken Report.

Gist of decision required Benefits/result Time frame and mannerof Implementation/Reporting to CabinetSecretariat

Non -acceptance of the Resolution of the As per provisions of

findings of the Justice controversy relating to Section 3(4) of the

Mukherjee Commission the alleged Commissions of Inquiry

of Inquiry except that disappearance/death of Act, 1952, the report

Netaji is dead. Netaji Subhas Chandra will be tabled before the

Bose. re -convened Session of

both the Houses of

Parliament in May 2006.

A-/\....CL k \,

(B. Bhamathi)Joint Secretary to the Government of India

SecretPage 12 of 15

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SecretNo. 12014/8/2005-NCB.IIMinistry of Home Affairs

ANNEXURE -1

(TO BE PUBLISHED IN PART II, SECTION 3, SUB SECTION (ii) OF THEGAZETTE OF INDIA , EXTRAORDINARY DATED 14-5-1999)

Government of IndiaMinistry of Home Affairs

NOTIFICATION

New Delhi, the 14.5.1999.

Commission of Inquiry appointed by the Government of India in April, 1956 andJuly, 1970 respectively to inquire into and to report to the Government of India onthe circumstances concerning the departure of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose fromBangkok about the 16th August, 1945, his reported death as a result of an air craftaccident, and subsequent developments connected therewith had come to theconclusion that Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose met his death in an air crash;

And, whereas there is a wide spread feeling among the public that the issueof finding the truth about Netaji's death still remains;

And, whereas there has been a consistent demand for a further inquiry intothe matter;

And, whereas the Calcutta High Court also directed the Government ofIndia for a vigorous inquiry in accordance with Law, if necessary, by appointing aCommission of Inquiry for the purpose of giving an end to this controversy;

And, whereas a Motion was adopted on 24.12.1998 by the West BengalLegislative Assembly wherein a demand has been made for a fresh inquiry into the

Bose;And whereas the Central Government is of the opinion that it is necessary to

appoint a Commission of Inquiry for the purpose of making an indepth inquiry intoa definite matter of a public importance, namely, the disappearance of NetajiSubhas Chandra Bose in 1945;

Now, therefore, in exercise of the powers conferred by sub -sections (1) and(2) of section 3 of the Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1952 (60 of 1952), the CentralGovernment hereby appoints a Commission of Inquiry consisting of Mr. JusticeM.K. Mukherjee. a retired Judge of the Supreme Court of India.

SecretPage 13 of 15

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SecretNo. 12014/8/2005-NCB.IIMinistry of Home Affairs

2. The Commission shall inquire into all the facts and circumstances related tothe disappearance of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in 1945 and subsequentdevelopments connected therewith including :-

(a) whether Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose is dead or alive;(b) if he is dead, whether he died in the plane crash, as alleged;(c) whether the ashes in the Japanese temple are ashes of Netaji;(d) whether he has died in any other manner at any other place and,

if so, when and how;(e) if he is alive, in respect of his whereabouts.

3. The Commission shall also examine the manner in which the exercise ofScrutiny of Publications touching upon the question of death or otherwise of Netajican be undertaken by the Central Government in the circumstances

4. The Commission shall submit its report to the Central Government as soonas possible but not later than six months from the date of publication of thisnotification.

5. The headquarters of the Commission shall be at New Delhi, and/or anyother place as determined by the Commission.

6. The Central Government is of the opinion that, having regard to the natureof the inquiry to be made and other circumstances of the case, all the provisions ofsub -section (2), sub -section (3), sub -section (4) and sub -section (5) of Section 5 ofthe Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1952 (60 of 1952) should be made applicable tothe said Commission and the Central Government in exercise of the powersconferred by sub -section (1) of the said section 5, hereby directs that all theprovisions of the said sub -sections (2) to (5) of that section shall apply to theCommission.

Secret

Sd..((Nikhil Kumar)

14.5.99.Special Secretary (ISP)

(F.No. VI/11034/18/98-1S(D.111)

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SecretNo. 12014/8/2005-NCB.IIMinistry of Home Affairs

ANNEXURE -II

MEMORANDUM OF ACTION TAKEN ON THE REPORTOF THE JUSTICE MUKHERJEE COMMISSION OF INQUIRY

REGARDING THE ALLEGED DISAPPEARANCE OFNETAJI SUBHAS CHANDRA BOSE

By Government of India Notification No. S.O. 339(E) dated 14th

May, 1999, Shri M.K. Mukherjee, retired Judge of the Supreme Court of India, was

appointed under the Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1952, to inquire into all the facts

and circumstances related to the disappearance of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in

(a) whether Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose is dead or alive;

(b) if he is dead, whether he died in the plane crash, as alleged;

(c) whether the ashes in the Japanese temple are ashes of

Netaji;

(d) whether he has died in any other manner at any other

place and, if so, when and how;

(e) if he is alive, in respect of his whereabouts.

2. The Government have examined the report in detail and have regretfully

accepted the conclusion that Netaji may not be with us any more and it is now not

possible to comprehensively establish the circumstances of his death; but are not

inclined to accept the findings of the Commission that Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose

did not die in the plane crash because absence of documents does not conclusively

disprove the overwhelming oral evidence of those who survived the crash, as

testified before the Netaji Inquiry Committee (Shah Nawaz Committee), 1956 and

Khosla Commission, 1970 - 74.

3. This Report is placed before the Houses as required under sub -section (4) of

Section 3 of the Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1952.

SecretPage 15 of 15

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Reply to the discussion under Rule 1931 '

on the report of Justice Mukherjee

Commission of enquiryS regarding

disappearance of Netaji Subhash Chandra

Bose laid on the table of Lok Sabha by the

Minister of Home Affairs on 7.8.2006.

Page 53: Rit# i 3- - Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Papers

Sir ,

Sh r i J a wa h a r La l Ne h ru , Shr i Subhas Chandra Bose , Shri Abul Kalam Azad,

Shr i Bab asa heb Ambe dkar , Sh ri Ja i Pra kash Narayan were a few of th e you ng

leaders of the, people, who were most respect ed , by o ne and .a ll in t he co unt r y,

and who led the freedom movement with gr ea t co ur age and confidence and

co nt r ibu t ed t o war ds t he deve lo pment o f t he co unt r y. Moder n hist o r y o f I nd ia

cannot be writ t en wit ho u t mentioning t he co nt r ibu t io n of men like them

to wa rds th e c au se o f fr e ed o m st ruggle an d o ur co un t ry's d evelo pme nt . They

wer e t he men o f vis ion. and indomit able courage who knew the count r y and t he

wor ld , an d the po ten ti a l the p eop le of In dia ha d . Thei r memo rie s in spi re the

peop le o f In dia and wou ld keep doing so fo r ma ny many yea rs to co me. If we

fo rge t t hem, o r if we cease t o remember as t o how they wor ked, t hey st rugg led,

th ey bu i l t th e fre ed o m moveme nt , we wou ld be c ome wea ker an d p oo rer , and

lo se o u r capac it y t o face t he cha llenges o f t he p resent and t he fu t u r e . On th e

eve of the at ta inment 9f the freedom, Ma h atma Ga n d h i and Shri Subhas

Chandra Bo se vanished fr o m o ur visio n, and we wer e depr ived o f t he ir suppor t

fo r th e c o ns t ru c t io n and bu i ld ing of ou r s t ro n g fu tu re . We should know in

clea r t erms a s to how thei r memorie s can be r espected, and as to how the i r

sp i r i t a n d vision can be, used to bu i ld ou r fu ture . We may be able t o do it

bet ter by avo iding cont roversies and , emph as iz ing o n t he posit ive asp ec ts of

their and our lives. Irinfo r t una t ely, t here arose a cont roversy about t he

exist ence or o ther wise of Sh r i Subhas Ch a n d ra Bo se , and his wh ere ab o uts ,

and t ha t cont rover sy has no t been fully set t led and allowed to disappear .

Page 54: Rit# i 3- - Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Papers

He gave cla r ion call t o his fe llo w pa t r io t s t o mar ch t o wards De lhi t o ho is t t he

na t io na l flag o n t he t o wer o f t he Red Fo r t . If h e h a d co me o n th e e ve of th e

Independence , he wou ld have b een we lco med wi th open arms by millio ns of

masses of In dia . When he did no t come aft er t he second world war wa s

co nc luded, ar id- vvheri t he co un try wa s emancipated , t he people were

disappo int ed . Aga inst t heir wishes, t hey began to t hink t hat he wou ld no t have

been alive , o t her wise he co uld no t have resis t ed t o co me to his mo t he r land , o n

the fu lfi l lment of h i s dre am of free dom for h i s cou ntry. Th e y wishe d th a t he

were alive, and feared tha t he migh t have breathed his last . That was why

t he r e was hes it a t io n in t he minds o f his k it h and k in, and t he co unt r ymen who

made t he go ver nment o f t he t ime t o co ns t it u t e a t hr ee - men commit t ee t o find

ou t t he t r ut h abou t his exist ence and info r m t he co unt ry.

The c ommi ttee co ns is t ed of a pe rson who was in the Force o f In de pe nd en ce

J u t,lRy,shirn,, his ,kFp#I.F11,anO, 4 pio,K,Adrp#44-4tcTI The co mmit t ee wa s

co ns t it u t ed in19 56. The co mmit t ee gave the report , aft er examining t he

witne s se s an d th e e vid e n ce ava i la b le in the co u n try a n d o u ts id e the c ou n try.

The majo r it y in t he co mmit t ee came to co nc lus ion t ha t he was no mo r e, and he

died in the p la n e crash , an d h i s a sh es we re ke pt in Re n ko ji t e mp le in Tokyo .

P,f,a,.ct.,. .q9,41.Xt,9711,1.11?.11P:111T1?SPei9';') 14 1197:1,11Nffskkl tieF, i d oome. to theconc lusion whic h wa s in l ine w ith the majori ty r epor t , with out any d is sent ing

vie w on th e same. Ho wever , la t e r o n, may be because , his bro t her 's affect io n

did no t a llo w him t o ho ld t ha t t he d isappear ed r e la t io n o f his was no mo r e , o r

may be the people in th e co un try were un wil l ing to th ink tha t he had d ied .

Un de r p res sure to empt i9nal, , t he peo p le a r o und him,

he changed h is view andi gave a dissent ing view, However, t he fact s relat ing t o

th e inc id e n t a n d th e in qu i ry, an d th e in i t ia l vie w a nd la ter o n the d i s se n tin g

view, did co n ve y th e conclu sion which wa s said and not re adi ly accept able,

however convincing it could have been.

This inqui ry held was qoser to the da te of inc ident , th a n th e e n q u i r i e s h e ld

la t er on. The evid enc e given by th e witnes se s c ou ld have bee n more r e l iab le3

Page 55: Rit# i 3- - Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Papers

and dependable . There was no va lid reason fo r t he wit nesses t o depo se false ly

and inco rrec t ly. In ma t te r s o f suc h in qu i r i e s , th e o ra l ev ide n ce given by th e

witnesses, and more s . the. eye wit nesses , is equally or o n occasion mo re

re liable t han any document a r y evidence . Th e a cc ide n t h ad ta ken p la ce in th e

time of war. Aft er t he war was over , t he gover nment s in t he count r y o f accident

and t he ne ighbour ing co unt r ie s wer e changed . The d ocu me nts r e leva nt to the

inc ident and th ings relat ing to it, could no t have been safely preser ved or

sto red o r co uld have been dest ro yed o r bu rnt in t he acc ident . Absence o f t hese

document s wo uld no t weigh heavily agains t t he availabilit y o f t he o ra l evidence,

given by t he unbiased eye wit nesses and o ther s.

Th erefore , i t wo uld no t be jud ic ia l ly p ru de nt to a t ta ch l es s impo rtan ce to th e

findings given by the Shahnawaz Commit t ee. The find ings given were no t

inconclusiVe. They were unambigu ous, c le ar and convincing. I t is no t easy t o

dlsbe li eve the f in din gs a nd b rush th em as id e an d in th e i r p la ce , to ac ce pt the

findings g iven in an inqu ir y which t o ok place near ly fift y yea rs la t e r , and which

was no t conclusive, and accor ding to which, no definit e finding cou ld be

pr ono unced in the ma t te r of inqu ir y. While asse ss ing the credibilit y of the

finding, we cannot ,affo rcl;to., lose sight of 4iis.4-at iona le .

The find ing o f t he Sh ah n awa z Co mmit te e co nvin ce d ma ny, and i t s eems , for

reasons known t o t hem, failed t o convince a few. The fa c t th a t in qu ir i es ma de

by a n In d ia n jo u rna l i s t , a n Ame r ic an , a n d a Br i t i sh , wh ic h we re o f th e s a me

444 , , a jp cidpp tt fincl ifo.yRur iMpl , f?:w, periqcg.i hpba4 doub ts about the

4-finding. I t s ee ms th a t major i ty o f th e p op ula t io n in th e co u nt ry d id no t sh are

t he doubt s , and wer e inc lined t o t hink t hat , t he g reat leader was no mo re in his

physical fo rm in t he wor ld.

i cons : t it ut pd. t o jpok int 9 T he mat er aga in. I t was do ne

to remove th e doubts enter t a ined by a few cit izens. Th e commission was

head ed b y a judge, a nd h ad to fu nction u nder the Inq uiry Commiss ion Act . It

we nt to th e c ou nt ry whe re th e a cc ide nt to o k p la ce , to the count ry where the4

Page 56: Rit# i 3- - Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Papers

ash es were kep t , a nd examin ed th e wi tn esses who we re a va ila b le a t th a t t ime.

Lega l acumen t o a ssess t he va lid it y and re liabilit y o f t he evidence g iven by t he

witn e s se s a n d th e e vid e n c e p ro d u c e d c e r ta in ly wa s u se d b y th e c o mmiss io n .

Th e re p o r t g ive n wa s u n a mb iguo u s a n d c on c lu s ive . A .few l ine s of i t c an be

quo ted t o po int o ut t he natur e o f t he repor t .

"I , t he r efo r e , find it p ro vsd beyo nd all r easonably do ubt t ha t Bose t r aveled in a

Japanese bo mber . fro m fr ou r aine to Ta iho ku on the mo rnin g of 18th Au gu st

1945 . . . . . The plane crashed t o t he g round, broke int o two pa r t s and caught fire .

In th i s fire, the pi lo t and Gen. Shidei d ied in s ta n tan e o u s ly and o f the o the r

men o n boa rd , c o-pi lo t Ayoagi d ied la ter an d Bose a lso su ccumb ed to h is burn

in juries dur ing th e c ourse of the fo l lo win g n igh t . His body was crema ted and

ashes wer e t a lcen. t o . T o 4o . E*ge,49, par4, 4.4 ?,19

The ques t ion be fore us is why a r epor t o f th is natu re shou ld be di sca rded in

favour o f a repor t which is o f inco nclus ive nat ur e. Ther e was no r easo n fo r t he

Kho sla Co mmiss ion to a rr ive a t wrong co nc lus ion s. There was no reaso n fo r

dFppiler l a fte pqrne, , in . ;wind , i t wou ld be

easier t o r ely upon t his r epor t t han any o t her r epor t o f inco nc lus ive na tu re .

I t is a rgue d tha t i n 1978, th en P r ime Min is te r o f In d ia e xp res se d his doubts

abo ut th e re l ia b i l i ty o f the f ind in gs given in the two inq ui r ie s he ld . I t is sa id

tha t he , had doubtcd .41,1-ell:ability, vitew o f th e d o c u me n ts a va i l a b le in th eA

offices of the gove rnme nt. No da tes , no names o r no numbers to iden t i fy the

said files were given which could help to find ou t the d oc ume nts men tione d by

the then Pr ime Min is ter . They cou ld not have been fo und o ut in t he o ffices , if

par t iculars abo ut t hem wer e no t provided. The fac t th a t , th en Pr ime Mini s ter

had fo rmed t he gove rnment by defeat ing t he go ve rn men t which wa s in po we r

wh en th e two inquir ies .were co nd uc ted , . c a nn ot b e eas ily brushed as ide, to

co me to the c onclu sion t hat his s t a te me nt c ou ld h a ve b ee n mo t iva t ed , no t by

reaso ns o f law, bu t by r easo ns po lit ica l. The two previous Prime Minis ters had

got two in q u ir i e s c o n d uc te d to find out th e fa c t s a n d in a way, accept ed the5

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41*

to r t s o f t he inquir ies. The th ird Pr ime Mini s ter ha d expre ssed do ub t a bo ut

che fac t s he ld pr o ved, bu t had no t co ns t it u t ed ano t he r inqu ir y which he co u ld

have done without difficult y, as it was done about twenty years lat er .

The t hird inqu ir y was o rc ler ed in t he pe r iod o f t he pr evio us go ver nment , and a

judge o f t he Supreme Co ur t was given t he responsibilit y t o d iscover fact s. This

inqu ir y was expec t ed t o do it s jo b in s ix mo nt hs t ime . I t co mplet ed it s t ask in

six years ' t ime. The Co mmiss io n co u ld have asked fo r t he do cument s fr o m t he

go ver nment , which had br ought it in t o exis t ence . Enou gh t ime was availa b le

fo r it t o ge t t he necessa ry do cument s. Near ly mo r e t han fo u r year s wer e a t it s

disposal. Why t he do c u me n ts we re no t go t fr om the pr evio us go ver nment ?

Cou ld it be exp la ined in a co nvinc ing manner? I t hink , it canno t be done.

On the fo llowing po int s, t he Commission had t o give it s findings.

1. Whether Net aji, §ubhas Chandra Bose is dead o r a live . ;

2. I f he is dead, whe the r he d ied in t he p lane c rash, as alleged;

3. Whethe r t he a shes in t he Japanese t emple a r e t he a shes o f Ne t aji;

4 . Whethe r he has died in any o t her manner a t any o t he r place and if so ,

when a nd how and,

5. If he is alive, in respect o f his whereabout s.

The findings given are as fo llows

It ha s sa id that Sh r i Subhas Chandra Bose may not be a live . He, however ,

might no t have d ied in t he p lane c r ash. The fo llowing are t he findings given on

the tissues ment ionpd, .1-10W; - ; -

1. Ne ta ji Subhas Chandr a Bose is dead .

2. He d id no t d ie in t he p lane cr ash as a lleged.

3. The ashes in t he Japanese t emple a re no t o f Ne ta ji.

4. In t he absence o f any c linching evidence , a po s it ive answer canno t be

given, , ,

5 . Answer already given in (1) above.6

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6, 4* *

The find ings o n the po int no .4 (d) ar e no t conclusive. Therefo re, it is no t

possible t o re ly upon t hem.

The findings given in th e previous repor t s are co nc lus ive and hence mo r e

reliable. Therefore, t he qu e s t io n i s wh y th e pre vio u s f in din gs should no t be

pre fer red and t he t hird finding should be r efe r red.

The Governmen t ha s pre ferred the f indings o f th e two previou s en quir ies and,

not the th ird f inding, beca use i t is inco nclu sive and no t de fin i te . I th in k , th e

gover nment has no t done any mis t ake o r wro ng in do ing so .

The Government was cr it ic ized fo r having delayed t he submissio n o f t he ac t io n

t aken r epo r t , and t he repo r t o f t he co mmiss ion in t ime . The law p ro vides t ha t

it sh ou ld be su b mi t t e d i ,to the legislature in, six J.nonths ' t ime. They were

su b mi tt e d in s ix mo n th s a n d a few d a ys ' p er io d . The r easo ns g iven fo r de lay

are n o t u n exc u sa b le . Th e Co mmiss io n wa s ap p o in te d to give a re por t in s ix

mo n th s t ime , and i t t o o k mo r e than s ix yea r s ' t ime . This realit y sh o uld b e

compared wi th th e d ela y of a few da ys, c aused in su bmi tt ing th e rep ort o f the

inqu ir y and th e ac t io n ta ke n repor t . Th a t wo u ld put the matter i n correct.perspect ive.

I t was also sa id t ha t no cogent r easo ns wer e g iven fo r having no t accept ed t he

repo r t , and fo r having r ejec t ed it . The reaso ns wer e g iven. Only th in g is they

were no t repor t ed fully. The reasons are given fu l ly on th is oc casion when a l l

asp ec t s r e la t in g to th e r e p or t , an d i t s c o mp a r i so n wi th o th e r two re p o r t s a re

done. I d o n ot kn ow if a l l the poin ts g ive n in the d i scu ss ion s toda y wou ld be

repor t ed o r no t . I f t hey ar e no t r epor t ed, allega t ions can be made t hat no va lid

re a so n s were ad va nc ed even in the deb ate o n the subjec t . Two or three

co lumns in a newspaper , o r a few seconds ' visua l on t he T . V. canno t co ver t he

valid points and all cogent argu me n ts . Lacunae in repo r t ing co u ld generat e

mistaken p erce pt io n an d misu nd ers tan ding. Neta j i Su bhas Chan dra Bose was7

' I I If , ; I

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1111

..he darling o f the masses and more revered by t he Congressmen and pat riot s of

all shades and opinions. Whenever doubts were raised about his whereabout s

and existence, st eps were taken to find o ut t he facts. Not once, but t hr ee

times. And a l l the help and assist ance was pr ovided t o unrave l t he factual

posit ion. In view o f t hese fact s, shauld we ho ld t ha t , no st eps were t aken t o

know if he were alive or not ? The gover nment had decided to confer the

Bharat Ratna on him, posthumously t o revere his memory. If a person is no t

found to be living fo r seven years, generally, he is supposed to have died. This

fact should have been borne in mind while object ing to conferment o f t he

highest award in the country. The report s given could also have been borne in

mind. But t hat was no t done. Why? This shou ld be explained. Comment s

can be given. But we do not want t o enter into disput e of t his nature, and, we

leave this issue t o the people to decide. The s t at ues and po r t r ait s put in t he

Par liament and o ther o fficial buildings are indicat ions of t he desire t o respect

and perpetuate his meknary. He is always ment ioned in a very respectful

manner . All t he leaders pay obeisance t o his memory and t ry t o put his view

and opinion in pract ice to st rengthen t he country and develop our people. The

concept of planning was very near and dear to him. That was adopted to build

our count r y's infrast r uct ure and indus t ry, t rade and agr icu lt u re, science and

technology. He was fo ri democracy, _social, econo inic and cu ltu ral just ice fo r

one and all. These pr incip les have been inco rpo rat ed in t he basic law o f t he

country and in t he policy o f t he government . If t hese are no t t he ways t o pay

homage to t he great souls , what are t he o the r ways in which respect t o t hem

ot r i be shown?

t i t . . t k I .

Let us not fall prey to polit ical considerat ions. Small concept s canno t produce

great and good results . Great men a re great , because o f t heir grea t t hought s

and concept s. Let us follow them in their foot -steps by avoiding to fall in traps

of nar row-mindedness.

Why any government would no t be int erest ed in no t respect ing t he great hero

of the freedom st ruggle ? Are we respect ing him by keeping t his dispute alive,8

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or t r ying to d isr e sp ec t other grea t leaders ? Let th is b e understood by the

people.

Anyt h ing which i s a ccept a b le t o a l l o f us , t o r es p ec t h i s memory ca n b e done b y

us. I f t her e i s a nyt h ing of the na t u r e , p lea s e s u gges t a nd we wou ld a ccep t i t

The gove rnm ent i s no t in a po s it ion to sa y t ha t t he Co m missio n gave i t s r e p or t

whic h i s c o nc lu s ive a nd ,a c c e p ta b le . The re po rt has n o t sai d as to ho w Neta j i

d ie d , w he re he live d , and why he l ive d away fro m h is d ear moth er lan d . How

can t his kind o f am bigu ou s re po r t b e ac ce p t ed b y a l l o f u s?

9

Page 61: Rit# i 3- - Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Papers

.1E-

i r 1 4O L'71602 2 11

w-ti?r j t2 3ituircict) ceil*f ict 4)1=

(4 44 -ice -titn 4414W,[14, 317110w4 l f t %WO " f t , - 500 007, VIM

c c caLYLICENTRE FOR CELLULAR AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY(Council of Scientific & Industrial Research)

Upon, Road, Hyderabad - 500 007, India

T. Fra-A fT Dr. Lalji Singhf--q-&-Tw D i r e c t o r .

P-- VAX O W 2 U L 1- 6 I 9 _C-3,,No. DCCMB/34April 4, 2006

TOP SECRET/MOST CONFIDENTIALMrs B BhamathiJoint Secretary (Security)Ministry of Home AffairsLok Nayak Bhawan, Khan MarketNew Delhi 110 003

44*PLefgv- 104,0 4PAti

Please refer to your 0.0. letter no. 12014/1/2006-NCB.II dated 3111 April 2006 referring to the

discussion I had with you at CCMB, Hyderabad on the report of the Justice Mukherjee

Commission of Inquiry. In reply to your question whether, or to what extent, there is a likelihood

of coming to a firm conclusion that the ashes preserved in the Renkoji Temple are that of Netaji

Subhas Chandra Bose if those are subjected to DNA test, my replies are as follows.

By looking at the photographs of the ashes shown to me by you, it appears that bones are badly

charred. There is hardly any piece of bone apparently unburnt. Based on our past experience of

trying to isolate DNA from such type of forensic samples. I can confidently say that there IS

hardly any possibility (may be about 1%) of getting any DNA at all. I would also like to point out

that if we make an attempt to isolate DNA with such a low possibility, the total ashes will be

used up in the process, and nothing will be left. Under the circumstances, it may not be

worthwhile to undertake isolation of DNA from the ashes of Netaji, which has such a strong

Yours sincerely,

7ITIT4Telephone

Lalji Singh]

\ ) \ '(On) 27160769

. EPABX .27160222 41(Rai,) 27160565, 2716055E

44 1FoxWehaita

International . 441-40-27160252, 271130591, 27160311inOie : 040.27160262, 27160591, 27160311

www.ccmb.rus.in

aE-mai l lalliaccmb,roc,In

4Ti .04111.Z (

Telegram . Diocontro

Page 62: Rit# i 3- - Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Papers

QUESTIONS ON JMCI

QuestionNo.

Text of the question

1.1. JMC1 after six and a half years' It has I

investigation has stated that CommNetaji did not die in the plane inconccrash on 18th August, 1945. and itlTaiwan Govt. has also stated that providno plane crash took place in the ReAugust. But Govt. has not also ataccepted the finding. Why? well -al

Commsome cfindinlNetajicrashavai laleviderCO M1TCor n IT

predicreliedthe wi.who NANetajiplane .conch,the ph1945in Taihis as1and prTemp:

2. American Intelligence Agency No CcCIA said for the first time in Nawa1964 that Netaji was alive. In that "12002 CIA again said that Netaji the evwas 105 ys,ars old and would witne

Answer

)een observed that the.ission's inquiry waslusive in many wayshas not been able toe definitive findings inport. The findings arevariance with pastcepted Inquiryission's findings inritical areas. The;s of the J MCI thatdid not die in the planeire based on non-Dility 'clinchingice'. Shah Nawazlittee and Khoslatission also faced similarament. They, therefore,on the oral evidence oftnesses including thosefere co -passengers ofin the same ill-fated

and came to thefsion that Netaji died inme crash on 18th August,Ind that he was crematedwan Crematorium andis were taken to Tokyo'eserved in the Renkojile.imments. But Shah7, Committee recordedt will thus be seen thatidence given by>ses before us as to

Page 63: Rit# i 3- - Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Papers

return to India soon. ThenTaiwan Govt. has said that therewas no plane crash and this wassupported by American HomeMinistry. There is RAW of Govt.of India. What do they say aboutNetaji? Home Ministry shouldclarify.

Netaji death is corroborated by.the findings of British andAmerican Intelligenceorganizations who undertookindependent enquiries verysoon after the occurrence.."

The British Govt. transferredpower to the Congress Partyunder the PM Jawahar La! Nehru.What were the conditions forsuch transfer of power as therecould be no transfer of powerwithout condition. This shouldbe stated on the floor of theParliament.As there was confusion aboutNetaji's death in the plane crashGovt. of India appointed ShahNawaz Committee and KhoslaCommission to ascertain whetherNetaji died in the plane crash inTaihoku Airport and whether theashes preserved in Japan are ofNetaji. In spite of that Govt.appointed JMCI through judicialintervention in order to unearththe truth. Thus, the rejection ofJMCI's report is shocking. Govt.should come out with all thedetails stating the reasons forsuch rejection of the report.

No comments.

The Government was unableto accept the findings of theJMCI as the Commission'sinquiry was inconclusive inmany ways and it has not beenable to provide definitivefindings in the Report. Thefindings are also at variancewith past well -acceptedInquiry Commission'sfindings in some critical areas.The findings of the JMCI thatNetaji did not die in the planecrash are based on non-availability of 'clinchingevidence'. Shah NawazCommittee and KhoslaCommission also faced similarpredicament. They, therefore,relied on the oral evidence ofthe witnesses including thosewho were co -passengers ofNetali in the same ill-fated

Page 64: Rit# i 3- - Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Papers

JMC1 has stated that the ashespreserved in Renkoji Temple arenot of Netaji and as such Govt.

I should stop spending money formaintenance of the ashes.

plane and came to theconclusion that Netaji died inthe plane crash on I8th August,1945 and that he was crematedin Taiwan Crematorium andhis ashs were taken to Tokyoand preserved in the RenkojiTemple. Thus, theGovernment found that thisCommission's findings do notdisprove the plane crash storyin the face of overwhelmingoral evidence, particularly ofthose who were co -passengersof Netaji and also the Doctorsand staff of the Hospital whereNetaji was treated for thirddegree bum injuries sustainedin the plane crash.JMC1's conclusion that theashes in the Renkoji Templeare not of Netaji is based onimagination and is not basedon any firm foundation. Thus,the Govt. does not accept thesame.

6. Shri Subrata Bose, MP (LS) and43 members of Netaji's familyhave, through Press Statement inKolkata on 26.5.2006, demandedacceptance ofJMCI report andwithdrawal or amendment of theATR placed in Parliament on 17t11

May, 2006.

Non -acceptance of the of thereport of the JMCI is a faitaccompli and, therefore, thequestion of withdrawal oramendment of the ATR doesnot arise.

7 Prof. Chitra Ghose, niece ofNetaji and research scholar at theNetaji Subhas Chandra BoseInstitute, Kolkata, said thatGovernment of India rejected thefindings of the Commission

The Govt. was unable toaccept the report as theCommission's inquiry wasinconclusive in many waysand it has not been able toprovide definitive findings

Page 65: Rit# i 3- - Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Papers

without giving any explanation, I the Report. The Findings areand people have legitimate also at variance with pastreasons to suspect that it was well -accepted Inquirydone with a motive to hide some Commission's findings inunsavoury facts from the public some critical areas.or to save the reputation of somewell-known personalities or both.

8. Prof. Ghose also said that The All records/documentsGovernment was willfully available with thesuppressing some important facts Government were madewhich were in the form of available to the Commission.

1 documents/files and these shouldbe made public without delay.

9. Prof. Ghosh further said that No comments.every person of the country hadthe right to know what actuallyhappened to Netaji and theywould generate public opinion topressurize the Government intoaccepting the JMCI report whichprovided 'clinching evidence'

I that Netaji did not die in the planecrash at Taipei in August 1945.

10. Prof Ghose also termed as 'most-

Certain documents/recordsunfortunate, the destruction of were destroyed in course ofsome files (for example file No. routine weeding out of old12(226)/56 at the PM() on Netaji records. This is a normaland said that the remaining ones procedure in Govt. offices tomust made public immediately, make room for new records.

All possible support was11. Prof Ghose also accused thepresent UPA Govt. and previous extended to the Commision.NDA Govt. for not extendingwhole -hearted support to JIvICI. - - - - .

12. In a letter addressed to the Indian This is a delicate matter andPM, Shri Yoshiro Mori, former cannot be decided hurriedly.PM of Japan and President of theIndo-Japanese Association, hasrequested for the return of theashes of Netaji preserved in theRenkoji Temple, Tokyo. _