Seeking return of Nehru papers, Prime Ministers Museum and Library decides on legal pursuit

While the matter of Sonia Gandhi taking away a huge chunk of donated Nehru papers – in 51 cartons in 2008 – was discussed at length at the last AGM held in February 2024, the issue came up for discussion again Monday at the 90-minute meeting at Teen Murti Bhavan in New Delhi.

Sources said a broad consensus emerged that the papers pertaining to the first Prime Minister are a “national treasure and should be handed back to the museum as its rightful place to preserve his legacy”.

At the 46th AGM last year, when the matter came up for discussion, it was decided by the members to seek a legal opinion regarding taking back donated papers. Consequently, in view of the legal opinion, for the first time, a letter was sent by the PMML administration to Sonia Gandhi’s office earlier this year, seeking return of the papers for scholars and historians.

This was the first time that the museum administration put on record, in an official communication to the Gandhi family, about Sonia Gandhi taking away part of the papers from the Nehru collection, which they had donated to the museum decades ago.

Sources said no response had been received from Gandhi’s office. In this regard, sources said it was discussed that the matter be pursued legally, contending that papers once donated or gifted cannot be taken back, and hence, they remain the organisation’s property and should be handed back to its custody.

A source said it was also put forth at the AGM that the matter pertained to 2008 (during the UPA rule), and the organisation was now seeking to course correct the administrative lacunae of the pre-2014 era by seeking further legal opinion in the matter and how it can be pursued further.

The issue of Sonia Gandhi having reclaimed a part of the private papers donated by the Gandhi family was discussed in detail in the AGM held on February 13, 2024, chaired by Rajnath Singh, which was also attended by Sitharaman and Pradhan, among other members.

There was a view among the members that those papers should be recalled, and a consensus was also reached to seek legal opinion on issues such as “ownership, custodianship, copyright, and the use of these archival collections” since the papers were donated to the organisation by Indira Gandhi in 1971 (as heir of the Nehru papers) and subsequently by Sonia Gandhi, after Indira Gandhi’s assassination.

The matter came up for discussion at the 47th AGM as a follow-up to the deliberations of the last AGM. According to sources, the initial legal opinion indicates that the ownership of the papers lies with the museum, even as the matter needs to be pursued further on their return.

On January 15 this year, the PMML society and executive council were reconstituted with former Principal Secretary to Prime Minister, Nripendra Mishra, getting another five-year term as the organisation’s chairperson. There were several new entrants to the society including former Union Minister Smriti Irani, former NITI Aayog Vice-chairman Rajiv Kumar, retired Lt General Syed Ata Hasnain, filmmaker Shekhar Kapur and Sanskar Bharati’s Vasudev Kamath.

According to PMML records, the papers reclaimed by Sonia Gandhi in 2008 include letters exchanged between Nehru and Jayaprakash Narayan, Edwina Mountbatten, Albert Einstein, Aruna Asaf Ali, Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit and Babu Jagjivan Ram.

At the AGM Monday, the Prime Minister also put forward the concept of creating a museum map of India, and suggested the development of a comprehensive national database of all museums in the country, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Culture.

A compilation of all legal battles relating to the Emergency period may be prepared and preserved in light of the completion of 50 years after the Emergency, Modi said, as June 25 this year marks 50 years of the Emergency.