MUMBAI: The BMC has ordered a forensic audit of its System Application Protocol (SAP) system which is used for all administrative works ranging from floating of civic tenders and issuing licences to salary payment to employees. This was the reply given by the BMC after a hue and cry broke out in its general body meeting on Thursday following TOI’s report about following two fake certificates issued in the name of municipal commissioner Ajoy Mehta for a hookah parlour and chief minister Devendra Fadnavis for that of a ladies bar and restaurant.The fake certificates, which went viral on social media on Wednesday, expose the gaps in the state’s much-touted scheme for registration of shops and establishments. Incidentally, hookah bars are banned in the state and there is no clarity on what a “ladies bar and restaurant” means.“We have ordered a forensic audit of the SAP department to check if there are more loopholes in the system...and if anyone trying to manipulate the system,” said additional municipal commissioner Vijay Singhal, who was present at Thursday’s meeting. “We have already appointed an auditor and expect the report in two months.”Singhal’s reply came after Opposition party leader in the BMC Ravi Raja raised the issue about how under the ease of doing business policy, certificates were being issued in such a casual manner. “This is a very serious issue and what is surprising is that though the two certificates were issued on August 24, 2018, they haven’t been cancelled yet. There is a need for a third-party inquiry into this system,” demanded Raja.The BMC has lodged a complaint about the certificate that names Mehta as an employer at MRA Marg police station and the other regarding misuse of the CM’s details at Gamdevi police station.Samajwadi Party leader Rais Shaikh said the same loopholes under the ease of doing business policy had come to the fore even in the case of permissions issued to the two restaurants in Kamala Mills where a fire erupted in 2017. “Even after that incident, nothing was done to make the system foolproof. One cannot be relaxing norms to such a great extent in the name of ease of doing business,” said Shaikh.

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