Judicial panel to probe identity of ‘Gumnami Baba’

UP government notified the judicial commission on Tuesday. The Allahabad High Court had termed Gumnami Baba as an extraordinary person and has ordered the state government to probe for his real identity. 

Retired high court judge Vishnu Sahai will head the one-member probe commission and has been asked to submit his report within six months, official sources here on Wednesday said.

Interestingly Justice Sahai had headed the commission to enquire into the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots and had given his report last year. 

The government’s decision to appoint the commission comes a couple of months after opening of the boxes belonging to mysterious Gumnami Baba, by the Faizabad district administration. Besides several interesting photographs, the boxes had hundreds of letters and other items of interest. 

Documents recovered indicated of Baba’s association with some key figures of Indian National army. An escape route and other such items which had a connection to Netaji were also found in the boxes which were opened. Gumnami Baba alias Bhagwan ji had spent the last 10 years of his life in a small rented room at Ram Bhavan in Faizabad before his death in 1985. 

Following his death and increasing controversy around his real identity the administration had finally seized the belongings from his room and preserved them at the government treasury. 

It was in 2006 that the Justice Mukherjee commission had ordered a probed to discover his real identity. The collected belongings were examined subsequently and the commission had dismissed the claim of Gumnami Baba being Netaji. 

However, Justice Mukherjee commission’s report didn’t end the speculation. Later on a petition was also moved in the Allahabad High Court seeking a fresh enquiry into mystery of Gumnami Baba. 

The High Court in 2013 ordered for a probe with terming Gumnami Baba as a ‘mysterious man’ and also directed to display his personal belongings at the Ram Katha Museum in Ayodhya. 

Since then the UP government made arrangements for setting up a memorial for the mysterious Baba. His belongings have been catalogued and now will be put on display at Ram Katha Museum.