“How many times will this issue come before the court..” Supreme Court refused to hear the ashes of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, know the reason

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday refused to consider a petition seeking directions to bring back the ashes of freedom fighter Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose from Japan to India. When the bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Vipul M Pancholi expressed reluctance to hear the petition, the petitioner sought permission to withdraw it, which was accepted by the court.

This petition was filed by Ashish Rai, a cousin of Netaji. It was demanded that the ashes kept in Renkoji Temple in Tokyo should be brought to India and immersed with respect.

The court asked tough questions

Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for the petitioner, told the bench, “I am appearing on behalf of the family members who want to immerse the ashes respectfully.” To this, CJI Surya Kant questioned how many times this issue would come before the court, reminding that a similar petition had been dismissed last year.

Singhvi argued that this case is different from the cases that came before. He said that every head of state of India has paid homage at the Renkoji Temple in Japan, which is a proof of this. On this the CJI asked:

“First of all, where are the ashes? What is the evidence? Bose was one of the greatest leaders of our nation and we all bow to his sacrifice.”

Disagreements in the family and absence of daughter

The bench emphasized that it wanted to know how many family members were supporting the petition. Singhvi said Bose’s sole heir is his 84-year-old daughter and the petitioners are his cousins.

To this the bench said, “The daughter is not present before us. If the heirs want to bring the ashes to the country, they will have to appear before the court.” When Singhvi said that the daughter was present through online medium, the bench remarked, “We respect her sentiments. We will decide whether her sentiments should be converted into legal action but she will have to come forward. As per our information, there are differences in the family regarding the incident.”

Following this stance of the court, Singhvi sought permission to withdraw the petition, which was granted by the bench. This ended another judicial effort to bring back Netaji’s ashes.