Monday, July 18 2005 14:39 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Kolkata: The much-awaited visit to Russia by the one-man Mukherjee Commission, probing the mysterious disappearance of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, has been deferred till September on account of holiday in Russian offices and establishments during July and August.

Justice M K Mukherjee, heading the probe panel, told PTI that a communication from the Ministry of External Affairs had informed the Commission about the development recently saying the proposed visit would not be possible before September.

The deferment would now push the Commission's visit to Russia into the third month of its six-month extension period.

The Commission finalised its visit to Russia after receiving extension of its term by six months, setting the deadline for submission of its final report to the Government by November 14, 2005, instead of May 14, 2005.

The Commission's 10-day visit to Moscow, Leningrad and Omsk in Russia between July 20, 2005 and July 30, 2005 was scheduled to be the first ever by any panel for detailed investigations about Bose's disappearance.

Justice Mukherjee said that the Commission would now sit again on July 26, 2005 to discuss the situation arising out of the MEA communication and reschedule its plan to visit Russia at an appropriate time.

During the Commission's hearings earlier, most deponents had urged the Commission to visit Russia, to verify if the arguments put forward before it about Bose's stay there after 1945 had any basis.

The Commission had earlier observed that submissions of some deponents about Netaji's reported presence in Russia some time after August 18, 1945, could not be ascertained without visiting that country.

While some deponents believed that there was no evidence of Netaji's presence in Russia after that period, there were some who subscribed to such an opinion.

The panel had observed that without cross-examination, submissions about Netaji's reported stay in Russia could not be taken as evidence.

Justice Mukherjee had written to the Ministry of External Affairs to ascertain if documents required by the Commission were available with the Russian archives.

He had also asked the MEA if the persons to be examined could be brought to Moscow to save time and expense as also to arrange for a Russian interpreter.

His observation came in the wake of a deposition on behalf of Purabi Roy, a researcher of the Asiatic Society and visiting lecturer of St. Pittursburg University, in support of her contention that Netaji was present in Russia after August 18, 1945.