India, July 31 -- The papers pertaining to the according of 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."

The state claimed that it had taken efforts to look for and recreate the destroyed files and records from t...