Any document can be lost, misplaced or destroyed. Therefore, for any document, there is a legal provision to take a copy from the respective departments. Duplicates of even lost documents can be procured from the Sub-Registrar Office for a special fee. As such a law exists, there is no justification for not issuing the service book for 23 years. If the original cannot be found, it is the fault of the office in which it was kept and not the fault of the person applying for the service book.

The fact that the book, which had not been seen for 23 years, was produced within 24 hours when the Information Commissioner ordered it, is a testament to the power of the RTI Act. This incident also exposes how irresponsibly the officers are behaving, even to those who have worked in the same department and retired. Despite the Chief Minister reminding many times that every file is a life, it is a sad state of affairs that some officials take pleasure in maxing out each and every file. Jayarajan, who was an officer in the Health Education Promotion Division at the Idukki DMO office, died in 2017 while on duty. When contacted under the RTI Act, officials in the office said that Jayarajan's service book has not been returned since it was sent to the Accountant General's office in May 2000. For five years, the relatives had come to Paina in Idukki from Nilambur to complain. They have dragged on for 23 years with a problem that could have been solved within 24 hours. Finally, the information commissioner took the position that the remarks affecting the service of the officer who is obliged to provide the service book will be recorded, and the book was presented. One can only imagine how an official, who did not hand over the service book of his colleague, would respond to a common citizen.

Information Commissioner A Abdul Hakim's intervention in the matter is appreciated. The service book which was sent back from the AGS office in July 2000 was safely in the Idukki office. There was also evidence that this book had been received. If an officer in the office had tried to find it, the book would have been delivered much sooner. Fair action should be taken against officials who fail to do so. Otherwise, incidents like this will happen again. The Commissioner has ordered to take action against the two officials. Often, when the heat of such issues is over, organizations and superiors scramble to save the failing officials. In the context of this incident, the government should decide to issue a directive to all the offices to provide a duplicate copy of any document within the specified date, if the original certificate is not found.