Mira-Bhayandar additional commissioner transferred over protocol lapse in invitation cards

The Mira-Bhayandar Municipal Corporation administration has faced action after an invitation card for a government event failed to mention a Cabinet minister as protocol requires. The state government took serious note of the alleged violation of protocol and held an inquiry. Additional Commissioner Priyanka Rajput was then transferred out of Mira-Bhayandar. She has been appointed deputy commissioner at the Vasai-Virar City Municipal Corporation, and Sachin Bangar has been appointed additional commissioner in her place. The action is being widely discussed in municipal circles.

The matter began with the inauguration of a sports complex on April 15, 2026. The draft of the invitation card printed for that event was required to be checked and certified by protocol officers. The inquiry found that the card was printed without completing this process.

The card did not carry the required mention, according to protocol and order of seniority, of Transport Minister and Dharashiv district Guardian Minister Pratap Sarnaik. The issue thus became more than the wording of a single card and turned into a question of observing government protocol.

The inquiry also took up the invitation card for the Labour Day felicitation ceremony held on May 5, 2026, to mark the corporation's silver jubilee year. The inquiry noted that the draft of this card was finalised without official approval and without completing the required protocol process.

A five-member committee was formed to inquire into both incidents. It met on July 20, 2026 and then submitted its final report. The report says the concerned departments and officials did not comply with the General Administration Department circular of November 20, 2025 and the municipal commissioner's orders of March 11, 2026.

After the report, the protocol department and the urban development department took note of the matter. The transfer was then ordered at the government level.

City Engineer Deepak Khambit has also been noted for a disciplinary lapse for finalising the text of the sports complex inauguration invitation card without the required certification. Municipal circles are watching what action is taken against him.

Reacting to the action, Minister Pratap Sarnaik said officials in the administration must strictly follow government rules and protocol. He said observing protocol at government events is not merely honouring a minister or an individual but honouring the constitutional office of elected representatives.

Sarnaik also expressed the hope that there should be no room for irregular practices in administrative work and that protocol violations should not recur. The dispute, which began over the order of names on one invitation card, has ended in the transfer of an additional commissioner. It will now be important to see how strictly protocol rules are implemented at the corporation's future government events.