SUDARSHAN SHARMA Vs. UNION OF INDIA AND OTHERS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner Sudarshan Sharma has filed the present petition under Articles 226/227 of the Constitution of India seeking a direction for directing the respondents, in the larger public interest, to get Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) tests done of the half burnt bone ashes of the martyrs Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev, which are lying preserved and displayed at the Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh Museum, Khatkar Kalan, Distt. Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar (respondent No.5) as the faith, myth and belief of every true citizen that the same are actually of the martyrs and not that of an animal, is involved.

(2.) The Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh Museum was inaugurated at the ancestral village Khatkar Kalan, District Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar of Shaheed Bhagat Singh on 23.03.1981 on his 50th Martyrdom Anniversary. The Museum is commemorative tribute to Shaheed-e-Azam and his compatriots who raised a banner of revolt against the British Empire for freedom. Photographs, mementos and other materials relating to the great martyrs and revolutionaries have been preserved. The museum also has burnt bone ashes and blood-stained newspapers which are preserved and are displayed.

(3.) The petitioner has highlighted that the preservation of the half burnt bone ashes of the martyrs is of larger public importance involving the faith, myth and belief of every true citizens to believe that the same are actually that of the martyrs Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev. It is submitted that under the Indian Museum Rules, 1970 framed under the Indian Museum Act, 1910, the museum is not to accept any object as gift or on loan unless it is satisfied that the object is worthy of display in the museum. The petitioner, it is stated, has great respect for the freedom fighters and martyrs. He has undertaken a research and was shocked, besides, pained to know from various research articles, books, library records that the bone ashes of the martyrs displayed at Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh Museum at Khakar Kalan were not of the martyrs but of some animal. Such revelations were reported in a book titled, "Martyrdom of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Some Hidden Facts" by K.S. Kooner and Dr. G.S. Sindhra. These research articles, books, library record and various newspapers are based on the statement of V.M. Smith, the then Superintendent of Police of CID Punjab who recorded these facts in a diary which depicts the facts at the time of the martyrdom of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev. After receiving the information under the Right to Information Act, 2005, the petitioner submitted a number of representations dated 16.02.2017, 06.09.2016, 06.09.2016, 06.09.2016 and 24.06.2016 (Annexures P1 to P5) requesting the respondents' authorities to verify the bone ashes of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev preserved at the Bhagat Singh Memorial at Khatkar Kalan by getting DNA tests done. The submissions of the said representations according to the petitioner shows his zeal to know the scientific truth which every true citizens of India equally have for the great freedom fighters and martyrs.