SIC directs disclosure of information within one month

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar

State Information Commissioner Prakash Indalkar has directed the present Public Information Officer and Research Officer of the Scheduled Tribe Certificate Scrutiny Committee, Kinwat (Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar), to form a team, conduct a thorough search and provide the information sought by the appellant free of cost within one month. The order was issued on January 28, 2026.

He further ordered that if the records are untraceable even after due search, an FIR be registered against the officer or employee responsible for maintaining the records, after considering the retention period. The directive to initiate an FIR under Section 9 of the Maharashtra Public Records Act, 2005, has been issued to the Commissioner, Tribal Research and Training Institute, Pune, for action at the concerned police station.

The appeal was filed by Arvind Ramrao Tadewad regarding the caste validity certificate of his daughter Anushka. In support, he had submitted a pre-Independence registered sale deed of his grandfather, Govind Kondiba, written in Urdu, along with its original translated copy prepared by government-appointed translator Advocate Mohammad Ehteshamoddin.

However, the Scrutiny Committee allegedly obtained a translation from Urdu teacher A.N. Farooqui through an irregular process and received an opinion that the document did not mention caste. Disregarding the government translator’s version, the committee rejected Anushka’s caste validity claim on January 5, 2022.

During the appeal hearing, Tadewad’s counsel Chandrakant Biradar highlighted these issues, following which the Commissioner issued the directions.