Missing BMC files: Chavan announces formation of probe panel

Maharashtra government today announced the formation of a two-member panel to look into the case of 10,000 files going missing from Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) offices.
Sharing the news with the state Assembly, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said that the panel will be headed by the additional chief secretary.
Subhash Desai (Shiv Sena) and other legislators had earlier raised the issue in the House through a calling attention notice after an RTI query revealed that BMC's building proposal department had lost construction plans of three landmark buildings, all located in high-security zones.
Almost 27 per cent of these files were from the pre-1991 period, after which the new Development Control rules came into force.

Police have filed cases at Agripada, Bandra, Kandivli and Pant Nagar police stations in connection with the case, Chavan said.
"It is essential to fix responsibility for the lapse. It is the government's view that the guilty should get stringent punishment," he said.
Leader of Opposition Eknath Khadse said that the municipal commissioner, who is the custodian of BMC property, should be suspended over the case of missing files.
Members of the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) sought a CBI probe into the matter.