Documents show larger conspiracy behind Gandhi's murder, SC told

Pankaj Phadnis, who has sought the reopening of a probe into the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, on Monday told the Supreme Court that he has accessed documents that show a "larger conspiracy" behind the murder.

Mumbai-based Phadnis told the bench of Justice S.A. Bobde and Justice l. Nageswara Rao that he has obtained documents, which the Indian government had banned here, from the library of Congress in New York and sought permission to file them.

"The documents show larger conspiracy behind the murder of Mahatma Gandhi. The Government of India had banned these documents in India. I got it from library of Congress, New York, and it's in a sealed cover," he said.

Phadnis -- a researcher and a trustee of Abhinav Bharat, a right wing organisation -- said he has filed a plea in the Bombay High Court for lifting the ban on the documents.

The bench asked him to file an application before the court giving details of the documents he wanted to file.

The court then posted the matter for hearing on March 6.

During the hearing, Phadnis also told the court that he has sought opinion from a senior attorney in New York, who has 40 years of experience, and as per him forensic technologies were available to examine old documents like a photograph of Gandhi, published in a newspaper on January 31, 1948 which shows four wounds on his body.

The court was hearing the plea which seeks reopening of the investigation on several grounds, claiming it was one of the biggest cover-ups in history.

The court had earlier asked Phadnis to satisfy it on the aspects of delay and his locus to raise this issue. The bench had made it clear that it would go only by law and not the stature of the person involved in the case.

Senior advocate Amarendra Sharan, appointed amicus curiae to assist the court in the case, had said that there was no need to re-investigate it as the conspiracy behind the murder and identity of assailant Nathuram Vinayak Godse, who had fired the bullets, have already been duly established.