No mysterious 4th person behind killing of Mahatma Gandhi, he was killed by Nathuram Godse: Amicus curiae tells SC

Senior advocate and amicus curiae (impartial adviser to court) Amrendra Sharan, submitted his report on Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination to the Supreme Court on Monday rejecting the need to re-investigate the case. He said there was no evidence to suggest that Gandhi was killed by a ‘mysterious’ fourth person. The Supreme Court had appointed Sharan to examine all the 4,000 pages of trial court records related to Gandhi’s killing, based on a PIL filed by Pankaj Phadnis, a researcher and a trustee of Abhinav Bharat, Mumbai, who had raised questions about the probe into Gandhi’s murder suggesting it was one of the biggest cover-ups in history. He questioned the ‘ three-bullet theory ’ in the murder of Gandhi, suggesting there was a fourth bullet which was also fired by someone apart from Nathuram Godse. [caption id=“attachment_2016419” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Mahatma Gandhi. Getty Images.[/caption] Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated 70 years ago on 30 January, 1948.  There were 12 persons named in the charge sheet. One of the accused had turned approver while five were sentenced to life. Three persons were declared as absconders in the case. Godse and Narayan Dattatraya Apte were hanged at Ambala jail on 15 November, 1949 after the High Court of East Punjab confirmed their death sentence on 21 June, 1949. According to  The Times of India, Sharan told the Supreme Court bench that there is no evidence to suggest Gandhi was killed by anybody other than Godse. The amicus curiae, assisted by advocates Sanchit Guru and Samarth Khanna who pored over all the documents including the Jeevan Lal Kapur Inquiry Commission report of 1969, informed the apex court that allegations of foreign intelligence powers having a hand at play are also baseless. The report said that the “bullets which pierced Mahatma Gandhi’s body, the pistol from which it was fired, the assailant who fired the said bullets, the conspiracy which led to the assassination and the ideology which led to the said assassination have all been duly identified,” thereby debunking the petitioner’s claim, as per The Indian Express. Phadnis, a self-professed Veer Savarkar follower, in his petition claimed, “The blame on the Marathi people in general and Veer Savarkar in particular for being the cause of the Mahatma’s death has no basis in law and facts. On the other hand, there is a compelling need to uncover the larger conspiracy behind the murder by constituting a new Commission of Inquiry to look into the issue," as per Hindustan Times. The matter is expected to come up with the Supreme Court bench on 12 January.