Kesab Bhattacharya, the counsel of Rudra Jyoti Bhattacharjee, one of the seven persons who have filed the petition, told the Division Bench headed by Chief Justice Mohit S Shah that the Mukherjee Commission report was tabled in the Parliament on May 17 2006, following which the Lok Sabha had discussed the report. Rajya Sabha had discussed the report on August 24, 2006, Bhattacharya told the High Court.

On January 15 this year, a counsel representing the Central government had told the High Court that the report was not discussed both in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, and as a result the government could not take any decision on Commission’s findings.

Today, the Division Bench asked the counsel of the Union of India to reply on the petitioner’s latest argument.

While submitting the affidavit, Bhattacharya argued that the Central government could not reject the findings of the report without giving any reasons.

In its Action Taken Report (ATR), the Centre had rejected the findings of the commission — Netaji is dead and he did not die in the plane crash in 1945.

The commission had also concluded that the ashes lying in the Japanese temple are not of Netaji.

The next date for the hearing in the case has been fixed to April 9.

* The commission, headed by former judge of the Supreme Court Manoj Kumar Mukherjee, was constituted in 1999 to inquire into the controversy on the

reported death of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in a plane crash that took place in 1945

* The Commission was constituted as per an

order passed by the Calcutta High Court in April 1998

* The report of the Commission was published on