End of INA and INA Trials (Red Fort Trials) 1946

Ras Bihari Bose had died in January 1945 in Tokyo. Subhash Chandra Bose was also presumed to have died. Before the war ended, the INA soldiers started falling into the hands of the allies. These were taken as Prisoners of Wars and the Court martial began as early as 1943.

INA had around 43000 recruits out of which many perished, many fled and mixed with the civilians, but 16000 were captured. They were stuffed into the ships and sent to India via Rangoon. Various detention camps had been organized in Jhingergacha and Nilganj near Calcutta, Kirkee near Pune, Attock, Multan and at Bahadurgarh near Delhi.

The officers of the INA were taken to court martial at the Red Fort of Delhi from November 1945 and May 1946. Around ten courts-martial were held.

• The first of these was the joint court-martial of Colonel Prem Sahgal, Colonel Gurubaksh Singh Dhillon and Major General Shah Nawaz Khan, who had been taken Prisioners of Wars in Singapore.
• They were charged of “Waging War against the King Emperor” as well as Murder and abetment of Murder.
• The Indian National Congress and the Muslim League both made the release of the three defendants, one Hindu, One Muslim and One Sikh !
• They were sentenced to death, but under pressure from the political parties from India, Army Chief Claude Auchinleck was forced to commute the sentences of the three defendants in the first trial.