The Centre on Tuesday backtracked on its stand regarding the Kohinoor diamond. The government will make “all possible efforts” to bring back the diamond in an amicable manner, spokesman Frank Noronha said. “The factual position is that the matter is sub-judice at present”, he added.

This comes a day after Solicitor General of India Ranjit Kumar told the Supreme Court that the British neither stole, nor forcibly took the diamond from India. He said that Maharaja Ranjit Singh had given the Kohinoor to the East India Company.

The solicitor general was asked to seek the Centre’s views on the matter, which have yet to be conveyed, Noronha said. The Supreme Court is hearing a PIL filed by the All India Human Rights & Social Justice Front, which sought that the Kohinoor diamond and other treasures be returned to India. On April 8, the court had asked the government to clarify its stand on the petition.