Netaji's family met PM Narendra Modi on Wednesday after which he assured them that all files related to Netaji will be declassified.
The countdown has begun to the declassification of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose files starting January 23, his birth anniversary. But many scholars say they wonder if all the files will be made public and if all even exist. And not just in Delhi.
Papers relating to Netaji have been showing up across the world for years. A 1943 letter signed by Netaji was sent, out of the blue, to the Mukherjee Commission probing his disappearance from 1999 to 2006. The sender was a Russian citizen who did not want to disclose his identity.
Many such papers may exist worldwide and are pieces in a jigsaw puzzle. At the same time, the Centre listed as missing many files sought by the probe panel.
"A big list was sent at the request of Justice Mukherjee. By the side of few files names, it was written "missing." Some claimed they were destroyed but that was hearsay. After a six month probe in Delhi, I traced the files to Mohammed Yunus, a close associate of Indira Gandhi. I hope the files are back," says author and Netaji researcher Purabi Roy, who deposed before the Mukherjee panel.
Scholars say they wonder how other countries will respond to requests for files on Netaji. When the Mukherjee panel visited Moscow, they could not meet a key scholar Alexander Kolesnikov who, as a member of the Institute of Oriental Studies there, claimed to have seen secret files on Netaji.
"The day before our departure, we got a call from Delhi that Kolesnikov, my main witness who knew of Netaji's existence in Russia in 1946 had been sent on a diplomatic posting to Ankara, Turkey," recalls Ms Roy. "Justice Mukherjee was very agitated and almost called off our visit," she added.
The Mukherjee panel conclusion - that Netaji did not die in an air crash - was rejected by the Centre in 2006. During the panel's visit to Moscow, a newspaper headline said, "Will they find anything new on Netaji or the same old?" In January, could that same question come up?