New Delhi, April 18 : The prized Kohinoor diamond was a gift to the British crown and it cannot therefore be claimed by India, the Central Government told the Supreme Court on Monday.
“The diamond was neither stolen nor forcibly taken away. The diamond was handed over by Maharaja Ranjit Singh to the East India Company,” Solicitor-General Ranjit Kumar said, although he added it was the Culture Ministry’s opinion and that the Ministry of External Affairs had yet to respond.
Chief Justice T.S. Thakur asked the Central Government if it wanted the case dismissed and gave them six weeks’ time to submit a detailed reply.
The Supreme Court is hearing a petition by the All-India Human Rights and Social Justice Front to bring back the diamond.
The prized 105.6-carat stone Kohinoor diamond had been taken by Britain as part of war spoils in the Treaty of Lahore in 1850 after the East India Company won in a war fought with Sikh rulers of Panjab.
Both India and Pakistan claim the stone as their own.
@ Agency report.
