[1] In 1942, during the surrender of Singapore by the British to the Japanese, Lakshmi aided wounded prisoners of war, many of whom were interested in forming an Indian independence army.

Singapore at this time had several nationalist Indians working there including K. P. Kesava Menon, S. C. Guha and N. Raghavan, who formed a Council of Action.

Their Indian National Army, or Azad Hind Fauj, however, received no firm commitments or approval from the occupying Japanese forces regarding their participation in the war.

Lakshmi Sahgal wrote later: “At the second mass meeting, Netaji dropped a bombshell by saying that it was his intention to form a women's infantry regiment, named after the Rani of Jhansi who had fought so heroically against the British in 1857… I told him I was ready to join...

[6] Captain Lakshmi was the Minister in Charge of Women's Organization in the Provisional Government of Free India led by Subash Chandra Bose in Singapore.

Captain Lakshmi was arrested by the British in May 1945, remaining in Burma until March 1946, when she was sent to India – at a time when the INA trials in Delhi heightened popular discontent with and hastened the end of colonial rule.

[8] She led a medical team to Bhopal after the gas tragedy in December 1984, worked towards restoring peace in Kanpur following the anti-Sikh riots of 1984 and was arrested for her participation in a campaign against the Miss World competition in Bangalore in 1996.

[16] Shruthi Seth played the role of Sahgal in 2020 Amazon Prime Video series The Forgotten Army - Azaadi Ke Liye.