Calcutta High Court to hear plea on Netaji files declassification

A Calcutta High Court bench of Justices A. K. Banerjee and Ashis Kumar Chakraborty Monday will begin hearing into a PIL demanding declassification of secret documents on the mystery surrounding the disappearance of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.

The petition has been filed by Kolkata-based NGO India's Smile and has the central government, the National Advisory Council, RAW, Intelligence Bureau, private secretary to the prime minister, defence secretary, home ministry and West Bengal government among others as respondents.

Besides seeking declassification of all documents, including top-secret files, relating to Netaji, the petition also demands a judicial review on whether the documents should remain secret in public interest.

"All our RTI queries have been denied with the authorities including the prime minister's office claiming that the information cannot be shared. So though this petition we want at least the court to review the various secret filed and decide whether they can be made public or not," said Rajib Sarkar of India's Smile.

A host of Netaji's descendants, enthusiasts and historians and organisations has been campaigning for declassification of secret files said to be in the possession of the central and West Bengal governments.