TIA NEWS
Government today told the Supreme Court that Kohinoor diamond was neither forcibly taken nor stolen by British rulers but given to the East India Company by the rulers of Punjab. Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar told a bench headed by Chief Justice T S Thakur that it was given by the successors of Maharaja Ranjit Singh to East India Company in 1849 as compensation for helping them in the Sikh wars.
The apex court then asked whether the government was willing to stake a claim to the Kohinoor, one of the most valuable diamonds in the world. The Solicitor General told the apex court that the demand to get back Kohinoor have been raised time and again in Parliament. The bench, asked the Solicitor General to file a detailed reply within six weeks. The apex court had asked the government to clarify its stand on a PIL seeking return of Kohinoor diamond to the country.