The apostle of peace was nominated five times for the Nobel but the Norwegian Nobel committee believed that he could not be given the honour as he was "neither a real politician nor a humanitarian relief worker".

However, the Executive Director of the Nobel Foundation in Sweden Michael Sohlam says the decision not to extend him the prize was a mistake.

"We missed a great laureate and that's Gandhi. It is a big regret," he said.

"I usually don't comment on what the Nobel Committees or prize awarding institutions decide. But here, they themselves think he is the one missing," he said.

Gandhi was nominated in 1937, 1938, 1939, 1947 and finally a few days before he was shot dead in January 1948.

In 1948, the Nobel Committee declined to award a prize on that ground that "there was no suitable living candidate that year".