 With
the Government having to cancel the notification for Bharat
Ratna following a refusal by Netaji's daughter, the Supreme
Court too directed the Government to take an unequivocal stand
on the Netaji's death.
To make the picture clear, at the conclusion of the Netaji's
birth centenary celebrations, acting on a PIL on April 7,
1998, the Calcutta High Court ruled not to bring the ashes
from Japan's Renkoji Temple to India unless it was established
that Netaji had died in 1945 and these were Netaji's ashes.
All the while, individuals and institutions kept pressing
on the Prime Minister for another probe.
A final push came with an unanimous resolution by the West
Bengal Assembly calling for a third probe followed by another
Court directive on Netaji's disappearance.
 On
May 14, 1999, the Government entrusted Justice (Retd) M K
Mukherjee of the Supreme Court with an in-depth inquiry into
the disappearance of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. The ambit
of the probe covers whether Netaji had died in any other manner
than air-crash; at any place other than Taiwan and, if so,
when and how; and finding his whereabouts if he was alive
after 1945.
The task of the Mukherjee Commission is like solving a mystery
wrapped inside an enigma. The starting point is the air-crash
that took place 56 years ago. Of seven survivors of the crash
that is said to have killed Netaji, none is alive today.
Japan had just been bombed. Everything was in complete disarray
then. There are no records of any conversation that the pilot
might have had with the control tower. Even the landmarks,
including the hospital where Netaji was treated, have long
disappeared.
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