Plea For Re-opening Gandhi Murder Case: Petitioner Seeks Permission To File New Documents To Prove The Conspiracy [Read Amicus Report]

Petitioner Dr Pankaj Kumudchandra Phadnis, seeking re-opening of the case on the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi in 1948, has claimed before the Supreme Court that he has obtained document from Library of Congress, New York, to show the larger conspiracy behind the murder of Father of the Nation.

Appearing before the bench of Justice SA Bobde and Justice L Nageswar Rao, the petitioner sought the court’s permission to file the document, which was in a sealed cover, saying the document was banned by the Government of India in 1948.

The bench was informed that he has filed a petition seeking the lifting of the ban against the document in the Bombay High Court.

Dr Phadnis also claimed that he has obtained an opinion from a senior attorney, who has more than 40 years standing, from the USA that forensic technologies were available to examine very old documents like newspaper cuttings of 1948.

The bench on Monday asked the petitioner to file a formal application explaining the details about the document and posted the matter for March 6.

Earlier, amicus curiae Amrendra Sharan in his report to the apex court had countered the petitioner’s claim regarding a news report about the conspiracy behind the killing.

Sharan had said the document was very old and could not be verified and suggested reopening of the investigation was not warranted.

On the last date of hearing, the court had posed pointed questions on the aspects of delay and his locus to raise this issue.

“You (petitioner) have to answer a couple of very important points. One of them is delay. The other is locus. The third is the fact that because of the delay, every piece of evidence,” a bench said.

On December 8, the amicus curiae had concluded that there may be no re-investigation as there is no fresh evidence which points to a "second person firing a fourth bullet".

Saran had said he examined all documents, including 4,000 pages of trial court documents and the Jeevan Lal Kapur Inquiry commission report. He said he found no evidence of a second person filing a fourth bullet.

In that view of the matter, he found "no ground to re-open the assassination case".

When Phadnis said he relied on a black and white photo of Gandhi’s body which showed four bullet wounds, the amicus said he had consulted forensic experts who said it was not reliable.

The petition filed by Phadnis, a researcher and a trustee of Abhinav Bharat, has sought reopening of the probe on several grounds, claiming it was one of the biggest cover-ups in history.

Gandhi was shot dead at point-blank range in New Delhi on 30 January 1948, by Nathuram Vinayak Godse, a right-wing advocate of Hindu nationalism.