The development came about after one and half years of RTI efforts which led to a landmark Central Information Commission decision and discussions among the highest echelons of power in the country. In fact, in late September-November 2007, then Home Minister Shivraj Patil took the matter to the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs -- the highest body in the country to decide such matters. The CCPA decided in favour of the release.

After one and half years of RTI efforts which led to a landmark Central Information Commission decision and discussions among the highest echelons of power in the country, the Ministry of Home Affairs has released to Mission Netaji 91 documents relating to the mystery surrounding the death of Subhas Chandra Bose.

The MHA had earlier said it could not provide Bose-related records, with the Union Home Secretary himself expressing fears that disclosure could lead to law and order problem in the country -- especially in Bose's home state West Bengal.

That certain classified documents should be released under the fledgling right to information regime makes for a good news in secrecy-obsessive India, but there are no more glad tidings. The MHA's disclosure appears to be selective, with too many missing links. 

One look and it would appear as though the Ministry has given away it all: British and American intelligence reports, diplomatic correspondence and assessments of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Lal Bahadur Shastri -- but there's more than what meets the eye. The documents do have some interesting revelations (see box below) but quite nothing of the sort that could cause any commotion, least of all in communist-infested Bengal.

The suspicious part is that out of 202 documents that Mission Netaji could somehow specify, only 91 have been released. One paper -- a 1956 note by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru -- is going to remain classified in national interest. There is no word about the rest 110 --  including Home Ministry, External Affairs Ministry files; letters from Home Minister, High Commissioner, Taiwan Government and Intelligence Bureau head; a report on treasure said to have been lost along with Bose and a memo from Director of Military Intelligence over Mahatma Gandhi's view on the matter.

These papers are said to be "unavailable", which means, would you believe, they cannot be traced in the repository of classified records in high security "T Section" of the Internal Security Division of the MHA in North Block. A layman's version though would be that they must have been destroyed. 

However, the contention that historic and politically important records just cannot go missing or be destroyed is reinforced by the Manual of Office Procedure, which strictly calls for permanent preservation of such records, and statements certain officials have made to Mission Netaji. In addition to this, Mission Netaji has irrefutable evidence that the Ministry of Home Affairs has been quite meticulous in maintaining records pertaining to Khosla Commission (1970-1974), which have yielded the 90 documents. Such is the level of safekeeping that even the file of peon attached to the commission, attendance register, papers concerning loss of tray, telephone rent bill register and register showing purchases of newspapers etc have been immaculately preserved till date.  

The worrying bit is that certain details about some of the "unavailable" records are known. For instance, the 1952 correspondence between AM Sahay, Bose's diplomatic aide who rose to be an ambassador in free India, and Foreign Secretary Subimal Dutt has Sahay insisting that India seeks certain explanation from the Japanese about what he calls "the whole show" of Netaji's death. Sahay wrote to Dutt that 2 days before Bose reportedly died, he sent him a letter: "He (Bose) suggested that although Soviets had declared war against the Japanese, it would be desirable to be arrested by the Soviet authorities in Manchuria because we could later negotiate with them and might persuade them to accept us as their friends and not enemies." It is simply baffling that the Government should loose the entire Sahay-Dutt correspondence. 

The "unavailable" records about an inquiry that the British made in Taiwan at the behest of Government of India in 1956 have since become available in the National Archives, London. The British/Taiwanese reports indicated that there were no records in Taiwan to prove Bose's death. In fact the witnesses cited by the Indian Government had "either died, disappeared or knew nothing". While 6 copies of these reports were given to MEA in 1956, nothing was heard of them in the days of Nehru. They were given to his pal GD Khosla and therefore appear in the list of 202 records sought by Mission Netaji. Khosla made no mention of them in his questionable report. Justice Mukherjee discovered them in London and used them to discard the Taiwan death theory.

On Mission Netaji's part, Sayantan Dasgupta has conveyed to the MHA that the CIC decision has not been "fully complied with" and sought details about the 110 records. The Ministry's attention has been drawn to a recent CIC direction regarding documents reported missing by another ministry.

"A number of documents, which are held in public trust by the Department, have been admitted to have been mislaid. Simply stating that these are untraceable is not adequate excuse. If indeed, as suspected by the complainant, the files have actually been purloined this will amount to serious criminal act and its non-recovery a breach of trust on the part of the public authority. The Ministry ... will, therefore, immediately lodge a First Information Report (FIR) with the nearest Police Station to initiate criminal action against those responsible for this theft/loss."

During the CIC hearing in June, Mission Netaji had apprehended willful destruction of documents relating to Bose's death. Ministry officials had then described the charge as "only a conjecture".

Background to the case