Bombay HC Orders Deeper Probe into Mulund Road Project after 19-Year-Old’s RTI Findings

Moneylife Digital Team 03 October 2025

Public Interest

A petition filed by a 19-year-old management student, has led the Bombay High Court to order a deeper probe into alleged irregularities in a road project in Mulund, exposing what could be a misuse of nearly Rs90 lakh in public funds. The student, Ayman Shaikh, who began filing requests for information under the Right to Information (RTI) Act in 2021 as part of her civic engagement efforts, pursued the matter relentlessly through multiple appeals until she obtained documents that, in her view, revealed glaring discrepancies.

Among these were truck challans submitted by the contractor that turned out to be linked to motorcycles, while other vehicle numbers were found to have no registration records at all. The invoices also included value added tax (VAT), despite the fact that VAT had been replaced by the goods and services tax (GST) in 2017. She has alleged that these bills, padded with irregular entries, were sanctioned by an assistant engineer, leading to a loss of about Rs90 lakh.

When repeated complaints to the police and civic authorities failed to yield results, she approached the Bombay High Court. On 30 September 2025, a division bench of justice Revati Mohite-Dere and justice Sandesh Patil directed that the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) expand its internal probe. What was earlier a one-member committee will now be a two-member panel, with the bench suggesting that the joint municipal commissioner (vigilance) be included. The court noted that the allegations were ‘specific and serious’ and went on to remark that youngsters taking an interest in issues of public accountability ought to be encouraged.

In its defence, the BMC argued that since the project was sanctioned back in 2018, it would be difficult to verify the claims after so many years. Ms Shaikh countered this argument by submitting an affidavit that accused the civic body of trying to mislead the court and reiterated that her allegations were supported by documentation obtained under RTI.

The case has gained wider significance at a time when Mumbai is undertaking several large infrastructure projects, often accompanied by concerns over transparency, expenditure and environmental clearances. Work on the Goregaon-Mulund Link Road (GMLR), which involves the construction of twin tunnels, has recently advanced with the arrival of a tunnel boring machine and the start of excavation at Film City. The BMC has also approached the Supreme Court seeking approval to cut more than 1,100 trees in the Film City area to facilitate the project. Against this backdrop, questions of financial propriety, oversight and environmental trade-offs remain closely linked in Mumbai’s civic landscape.

The High Court has directed the civic body to submit a report after the newly expanded two-member committee completes its inquiry into the Mulund road project. The outcome of this probe will establish whether the allegations raised through Ms Shaikh’s RTI applications lead to accountability for past lapses or are set aside on the grounds of delay and passage of time.

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