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In the continuing saga of national apathy towards our history, "Smaraniyo bichar sangraha" (museum for memorable judicial cases) at the judges court in Calcutta is in the dock due to lack of adequate funds for its upkeep.

Among the hoary historical facts connected with this Museum are that it was once the residence of Sir Elijah Impey. Firebrand freedom fighter Aurobindo Ghosh was tried here for the Manicktala bomb case. The original courtroom witnessed the convictions of other great revolutionaries like Barin Ghosh, Ullahaskar Dutta, Sisirkumar Ghosh and 33 others by Judge C. P. Beechchroft.

Its three rooms contain original documents of a number of cases relating to the freedom struggle and important civil cases. Priceless documents bearing testimony to India`s independence struggle are in danger of being lost to the ravages of time and lack of money. The `agnipath` section has a large number of photographs, the 1935 order for attachment of the property of Subhash Chandra Bose, papers of Kumagatamaru case and the order for execution of Dinesh Chandra Gupta.

Though some money has been given by the national archives and help has been received from Aurobindo Research Centre, Nehru Museum and National Library, there remains a lot to be done if these priceless documents are to be preserved for posterity.