The center told the Supreme Court that, “Kohinoor diamond was neither stolen nor forcibly taken away" and thus, India is not supposed to stake claim to the famed $200 million diamond. Appearing for the government, Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar said that this was the Culture Ministry’s stand. He told the court that, Maharaja Ranjit Singh handed over the 105-karat Kohinoor diamond to the East India Company.

In 1850, incidentally, Maharaja Ranjit Singh of Punjab was forced by the Marquess of Dalhousie to gift' the 105-carat stone to Queen Victoria. The Marquess of Dalhousie was the British governor-general of Punjab.

The Ministry of External Affairs’ response over the issue is not yet come, said the Solicitor General Kumar. The Center was asked to file a detailed reply by the Supreme Court, within six weeks.

Earlier, the Center was asked by the court to clearly state its position on bringing back the diamond, as a part of hearing of a petition filed by the All India Human Rights and Social Justice Front. During that time, Chief Justice T.S Thakur asked if Center is sure to dismiss the case, as the government would face a problem in case of the claim of diamond in future.

For many decades now, people have been demanding for the return of the precious diamond. In 2013, the British Government rejected the demand for the return of the Kohinoor.

- Sumana