Press Release | 18 September 2007

A CIC decision has led to partial disclosure by the PMO of papers relating to the destruction of an alleged file on the enquires made by former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru about the whereabouts of Subhas Chandra Bose. The bunch comprises notes from secret files, letter by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and recent correspondence between Mukherjee Commission and Prime Minister's Office under Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

A selection of the papers provided to Mission Netaji can be seen here.

File 12(226)/56-PM titled Investigation into the circumstances leading to the death of Subhas Bose was described by Justice Mukherjee Commission of Inquiry (1999-2005) as one which could have been of "great assistance" in resolving the controversy surrounding Bose's disappearance. It was destroyed "during routine process of review/weeding of old records" -- as Kamal Dayani, PMO's Central Public Information Officer, informed Anuj Dhar of Mission Netaji in September last year.

Dhar took the matter to Central Information Commission (CIC). Last month, Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah directed the Prime Minister's Office to provide certain documents identified by Dhar. The PMO obliged, and so the contours of a shocking tale emerge.

In April 1957, more than ten years after the reported death of Subhas Bose, a file was opened in what was then called the Prime Minister's Secretariat. The file was suddenly destroyed in March 1972. Grapevine had it that it was done at the behest of PN Haksar, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's all-powerful PS. The timing of the destruction clashed with the ongoing judicial inquiry of GD Khosla. Strangely, Khosla, a flamboyant friend of Pt Nehru's, went on to write in his report that the "unwanted" file was "destroyed to lighten the burden of the record rooms".

In contrast, Mukherjee, a former Supreme Court judge known for his expertise in criminal law, forced the issue of destroyed Netaji records with the PMO. They were asked to furnish the copies of the order regarding the destruction as well as "authenticated Xerox copies of the Rules and Procedures prescribed for destruction of files".

In response, the PMO Director wrote that "no order as such ... could be located" and could only provide "the relevant page of the File Register showing destruction of the file in 1972". The same has been given to Mission Netaji under RTI along with page No 151/C of classified PMO file 2(64)/56-70 PM, Vol-V. The documents give no clue as to who could have ordered the destruction and for what reason. Another PMO letter stated that the Commission may "acquaint themselves with the destruction procedure of files in Govt of India offices" as laid down in Manual of Office Procedure.

Mission Netaji traced the Manual of circa 1972 and found that official files in those days were recorded in three categories. "Class A" files or the "records fit for permanent preservation" included "files of historical importance" -- those "relating to a well-known public or international event or cause celebre, or to other events which gave rise to interest or controversy on the national plane". The question of destruction of such files under any "review and weeding of records" did not arise before 25 years and prior consultation with the National Archives of India.

File 12(226)/56-PM seemed to have been shredded hurriedly and unlawfully. Why? Mukherjee Commission queried PMO on May 23, 2000 to disclose "the subject and contents of the above file and the circumstances under which the said file had been destroyed". PMO replied that the file "contained agenda paper/cabinet decision" which could be procured for the Cabinet Secretariat as "records of Cabinet proceedings are kept permanently in Cabinet Secretariat" . But Commission got nothing from Cabinet Secretariat. Ditto for Mission Netaji, whose RTI request was transferred to the PMO.

The released papers further disclose that former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi reasoned in 1974 that the "file was destroyed only because it contained copies". "I can assure you that this file (12(226)/56- PM) contained only copies of certain documents which are still available in other files, she wrote to late MP Samar Guha who had wondered "whether such a vital file has been destroyed or withheld".

But, the papers show, this logic too worn thin as the PMO was unable to prove the veracity of former Prime Minister's assertion by providing documents supporting her contention.

"The impunity with which such an important file seems to have been destroyed raises a big question mark on the accountability of our political establishment and bureaucracy, " remarks Mission Netaji's Chandrachur Ghose.