Mumbai News: School Education Department’s 2002 File Missing, FIR Lodged Under Public Records Act

Sharad Shripatrao Makne (47), a Section Officer in the School Education and Sports Department, Mumbai, has filed a police complaint after a crucial departmental file from 2002 went missing under mysterious circumstances.

Makne, a resident of Khanda Colony, New Panvel (W), Raigad, stated in his complaint that a request was made to the Department of School Education and Sports, Ministry of Education, Mumbai, for a copy of the complete details of the proposal based on which a letter/order dated June 29, 2002, was issued. The request was submitted through an online application under the Right to Information Act by Siddhant Vijay Avhane on September 21, 2022.

Despite multiple appeals, including one to the First Appellate Authority and later to the State Information Commissioner, the file could not be located. During hearings held in November and December 2024, it was acknowledged that the file was neither found in the relevant desk records nor in the archives.

The State Information Commissioner directed that, under the Maharashtra Public Records Act, 2005, an FIR should be lodged, citing the possibility that the file was either lost or deliberately destroyed. After repeated extensions to trace the file, the final order dated March 21, 2025, confirmed the need for legal action, as the document remained untraceable.

Makne, who assumed charge as the Public Information Officer on November 21, 2024, noted that exhaustive searches yielded no results. Given the developments, he lodged a complaint at the Marine Drive Police Station, suspecting that an unknown person may have intentionally destroyed the document between September 21, 2022, and April 16, 2025.

Police have since registered an FIR under Sections 8 and 9 of the Maharashtra Public Records Act, 2005, and initiated an investigation.