A Prince, Poison, and Two Funerals: The Bhowal Sanyasi Case

This book recreates a sensational true story which was beyond doubt one of the most interesting and remarkable case that ever came before a court of law. The case concerned the identity of a rich Indian princeling declared dead under mysterious circumstances. While being carried for cremation, during a violent thunderstorm, the body suddenly disappeared. Remarkable that ever came before a court of law in this country, or indeed in any other. A Case, which, is no exaggeration to say, is unique in legal annals. This is what Sir Leonard Costello, Kt. Chief Justice, Calcutta High Court, said in open court in August 1940. The Trial lasted six years in the Dacca District Court. It then went to a special Appeals Court in Calcutta, where it lasted another four years. Finally, it went to the Privy Council in London. 1933 to 1946, a sensational and marathon case, which created legal history.The denouement, of this strangest of tales, was perhaps the only way it could have ended.