SC: CAN’T ORDER KOHINOOR RETURN

The Supreme Court declined on Friday to pass an order to reclaim the Kohinoor from the United Kingdom or to stop it from being auctioned.

A bench headed by Chief Justice JS Khehar disposed of the petition seeking the direction while noting that the Centre had already taken measures in this regard. The court also said it cannot ask a foreign government not to auction a property.

“We are quite surprised that such petitions are filed for properties which are in the USA and the UK. What kind of a writ petition is this?” the bench told the lawyer who was representing the NGO, All India Human Rights and Social Justice Front, which moved the petition.

“The Government of India continues to explore ways and means with the UK government on the issue,” the court said, referring to the Centre’s affidavit that was filed in the year-old petition. The Centre placed its official stand before the court after a bench, then headed by CJI (retired) TS Thakur, asked for its response to the petition.

“India won independence in 1947. But successive governments at the Centre have made little or no attempt to bring back the Kohinoor diamond from the UK to India, the place of its origin,” the petition read.

It said the government had maintained that Kohinoor was an Indian artefact. But repatriation cannot be made because the same was not covered under the UNESCO Convention. The petitioner condemned the successive government’s “lackadaisical approach” in making positive and meaningful diplomatic parleys that were not in national interest. “All attempts on the part of the petitioners and other right-thinking persons to activate the Central government have failed,” the plea had said.

The Centre said that the demand to get back Kohinoor has been raised time and again in Parliament.

A BENCH DISPOSED OF THE PETITION SEEKING THE DIRECTION WHILE NOTING THAT THE CENTRE HAD ALREADY TAKEN MEASURES TO RECLAIM THE KOHINOOR FROM THE UK