The Karnataka High Court has dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) petition that sought answers regarding the delay in setting up a judicial inquiry into Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination. The court described the petition as a ‘publicity stunt’ and imposed costs on the petitioner.
Court Ruling and Observations
A bench comprising Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice KS Hemalekha heard the PIL filed by the organization Jagrutha Karnataka, Jagrutha Bharatha, represented by its President KN Manjunatha. The petitioner questioned the 17-year delay by the Indian government in forming a judicial panel to probe the conspiracy behind Gandhi’s assassination in 1947.
The bench was not convinced by the arguments and noted that the petitioner had previously filed a similar petition regarding an alleged ‘missing’ volume of Gandhi’s autobiography, My Experiments with Truth. That petition was dismissed on August 28, 2025. The court deemed the current petition to lack sufficient material support and dismissed it, ordering the petitioner to pay ₹10,000 to the legal aid services within two weeks.
Petitioner’s Claims
The petition called for the establishment of a Joint Parliamentary Committee to investigate why a judicial inquiry into Gandhi’s assassination was only initiated in 1965. Further, it sought a probe into Gandhi’s letters and an alleged ‘missing’ Volume II of his autobiography, which was reportedly moved from the Nehru Museum in 2008.
Another aspect of the petition sought an inquiry into Gandhi’s May 1947 letter to the British Viceroy, in which Gandhi suggested that armed conflict could be considered to prevent India’s partition. The letter also requested that the British refrain from influencing any potential partition, suggesting that any such decision should follow the withdrawal of British colonial rule.
Previous Petitions and Court’s Stance
In a previous case dismissed last year, Jagrutha Karnataka, Jagrutha Bharatha alleged that gaps in Indian historical records, particularly regarding the freedom struggle and India’s independence from 1927 to 1947, were destabilizing the country. The petitioner claimed that Volume II of Gandhi’s autobiography, which purportedly covers these events, was either unpublished by the Congress Party or banned.
The petitioner sought responses from various political figures and entities, including Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, regarding these claims. However, the court found no merit in the petition and dismissed it, reiterating that it did not serve the public interest.
