'Savarkar Sadan file on heritage tag lost in 2012 Mantralaya fire'

Efforts to recreate the destroyed files from secondary sources were not successful, state tells high court

- Ateeq Shaikh

The papers pertaining to granting heritage status to Hindutva ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar's Dadar residence, Savarkar Sadan, were lost in the 2012 Mantralaya fire, claimed the state government in its response to the public interest litigation (PIL) filed in the Bombay high court on the issue.

The reply submitted to the high court says, “..further action in the present matter could not be carried out as the relevant government records pertaining to this case were destroyed in the fire that occurred on 21.06.2012 on the fourth floor of Mantralaya, where the urban development department is situated.”