The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought the Centre’s response to a petition filed by Anita Bose Pfaff, daughter of freedom fighter Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, seeking directions for the repatriation of her father’s ashes from Tokyo’s Renko-ji Temple to India.
A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant issued notices to the Centre, including the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), asking the authorities to respond to the plea concerning the remains that have been preserved at the Japanese temple for more than eight decades.
During the hearing, senior advocate AM Singhvi, appearing for Pfaff, submitted that the matter was of considerable significance as Netaji’s own daughter had approached the court seeking the return of his remains to India. Justice Joymalya Bagchi observed that the Centre should first be given an opportunity to respond to the plea. The CJI thereafter directed that notices be issued to the concerned authorities.
The latest petition comes months after the Supreme Court, in March 2026, declined to entertain a Public Interest Litigation filed by Ashish Ray, the son of Netaji’s nephew. At the time, the CJI-led bench observed that Anita Bose Pfaff, being Netaji’s legal heir, should herself approach the court and seek appropriate relief.
Following that observation, Pfaff has now moved the Supreme Court in her own capacity, seeking the repatriation of the ashes kept at Renko-ji Temple in Tokyo.
The question of Netaji’s remains has remained unresolved for decades and is closely connected with the continuing debate over the circumstances surrounding his reported death in 1945.
According to the official account accepted by the Indian government, Subhas Chandra Bose died from injuries sustained in an aircraft crash in Taipei on August 18, 1945. He was reportedly taken to a hospital after the crash, where he later died. His remains were subsequently cremated and the ashes were taken to Japan, eventually being placed at Renko-ji Temple in Tokyo.
However, doubts surrounding the circumstances of his death have persisted over the years. Several committees and commissions were constituted to examine the issue, including the Shah Nawaz Committee, the Justice GD Khosla Commission and the Justice Mukherjee Commission.
The Shah Nawaz Committee and the Justice GD Khosla Commission concluded that Bose died as a result of the 1945 plane crash. The Justice Mukherjee Commission, which submitted its report in 2005, however, rejected the plane-crash theory.
The government did not accept the Mukherjee Commission’s findings. The Ministry of Home Affairs has subsequently maintained that, after examining the findings of the various inquiries, the government concluded that Bose died in the plane crash on August 18, 1945.
The identity of the ashes preserved at Renko-ji Temple has also remained a subject of controversy.
Pfaff has maintained that the ashes at the Tokyo temple are her father’s mortal remains and has supported their return to India so that his final rites can be performed with dignity. She has also previously indicated that scientific examination, including DNA testing, could help settle doubts surrounding the remains.
At the same time, questions have been raised over whether sufficient usable DNA can still be extracted from the material preserved at the temple after more than 80 years.
The Bose family has in the past approached the government seeking a DNA examination of the ashes. The latest petition has now brought the issue before the Supreme Court once again.
With the Centre asked to respond, the next stage of the proceedings could bring renewed focus on the historical investigations into Netaji’s disappearance, the status of the remains at Renko-ji Temple and the long-pending demand to bring them back to India.
Leave Your Comment