HC asks central government to file affidavit on Netaji issue

The Calcutta High Court today asked the central government to file an affidavit on a petition demanding declassification of secret documents relating to the mysterious disappearance of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.
Hearing a PIL filed by Kolkata-based NGO "India's Smile", a division bench of Justice Asim Banerjee and Justice Ashish Kumar Chakraborty directed the government to file an affidavit before the court within two weeks after the winter holidays.
The Union of India, Ministry of External Affairs, RAW, Intelligence Bureau, private secretary to the Prime Minister, Defence secretary, Home Affairs department and West Bengal government among others have been made respondents in the case.

The petition prayed for declassification of all documents, including top-secret files, relating to Netaji, so that the mystery surrounding his disappearance could be solved.
Successive governments have refused to make public classified files relating to Netaji.
In a recent RTI reply, the Prime Minister's Office has admitted that they have 39 files on the freedom fighter, but refused to disclose them saying it would prejudicially affect relation with foreign countries.

The petition demands a judicial review on whether the documents should remain secret in public interest.
When under house arrest by the British colonial administration, Netaji had escaped from India in 1941 to seek international support for his efforts to free his country and formed the Indian National Army with Japanese help.

He went missing in 1945.
The Mukherjee Commission, assigned to solve the mystery of Netaji's disappearance, rejected the opinion that he had died in a plane crash at Taihoku airport in Taiwan on August 18, 1945.