The Supreme Court on Thursday asked Anita Bose Pfaff, daughter of freedom fighter Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, to “come forward” and file a petition in her name if she wants the court’s intervention in bringing Netaji’s ashes from Japan’s Renkoji Temple to India.
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalia Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi refused to entertain a petition filed through Netaji’s grandson and author Ashish Rai, stating that the case involved reported disagreements within the Bose family over the circumstances of the leader’s death and the authenticity of the ashes, and therefore, the “direct heir” should approach the court.
“We respect her feelings and rights and will ensure that her feelings are translated into appropriate legal action, but she will have to come forward on her own,” the bench noted during the hearing.
Senior lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who represented Rai, told the court that the petition was effectively seeking compensation on behalf of Pfaff, who for years has been urging the Indian government to return her father’s remains to India.
Read also: “To be or not to be…”: What the Supreme Court said in the Harish Rana euthanasia case
“I am demanding his daughter’s rights to own his ashes,” Singhvi said, adding that Pfaff is currently in Austria and was present during the proceedings via video link.
However, the court indicated that it was not the petitioner before the court.
The court commented: “How many times will we have to adjudicate? We only dealt with this matter last year.” “First, tell us how many family members are in this petition? He was one of our nation’s greatest leaders and we all bow to his great sacrifices,” she added.
When Singhvi asserted that the petition was filed by Netaji’s grandnephew, the court replied that such a sensitive matter could not be pursued indirectly.
“This cannot be an off-the-wall fight,” the bench responded, adding that given the reported disagreements within the family over the incident, Pfaff herself would have to go to court if she wanted judicial intervention.
Singhvi then sought permission to withdraw the petition with the freedom to file a new application.
After allowing the petition, the court recorded in its order that: “The petitioner seeks freedom to withdraw this petition with freedom to file a fresh petition. The prayer is allowed.”
Pfaff, an economist based in Austria, has repeatedly appealed to the Indian government to return Netaji’s ashes from the Renkoji Temple in Tokyo, where they have been preserved since 1945. She believes her father died following a plane crash in Taipei in August 1945, an account supported by numerous eyewitness accounts, including the testimony of Indian National Army officer Colonel Habibur Rahman. Pfaff said the remains should be returned to India for a proper and dignified funeral, saying it was time to end what she described as Netaji’s long “exile”.
On the 129th birth anniversary of Netaji in January 2026, she renewed her appeal and noted that she had earlier written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking government intervention in returning the ashes.
However, the issue of Netaji’s death and the health of the ashes remained controversial for a long time, including within his family.
One section of Bose’s extended family accepts the plane crash theory, while others believe that Netaji may have survived the crash or not boarded the plane at all. Some alternative theories have suggested that he may have lived in hiding in India or died in a Soviet prison. These divisions also emerged in discussions about whether DNA testing should be performed on the ashes kept at Renkoji Temple.
Documents declassified by the Indian government in 2016 revealed that the Bose family itself was sharply divided over the proposal. According to a memorandum signed by then Foreign Minister Salman Haider, Pfaff expressed his willingness to return the ashes to India but did not support DNA testing. Another secret memo dating back to the mid-1990s indicates that the State Department considered the possibility of DNA testing but ultimately decided not to do so due to concerns that doing so would spark new controversy. External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee had recorded that public opinion remained divided on the issue and conducting a DNA test could further complicate matters.
Netaji remains one of the most popular leaders in India’s freedom struggle. After escaping British surveillance in India, he traveled to Europe and later made a perilous submarine voyage to Southeast Asia, where he reorganized the Indian National Army (INA) and formed the Provisional Government of Free India during World War II. The INA fought alongside the Axis forces against British rule in India, leaving a lasting mark on the independence movement.
However, eight decades after his reported death, the mystery surrounding Netaji’s final days and the question of his remains continue to generate controversy, both within the Bose family and in the public sphere.
