I have a tracked file (an old versioned file) that i modified on master branch.
The staus on master branch shows this file as modified but
The status on the topic branch also shows this file as modified.

Earlier there was an error "error: You have local changes to "X"; cannot switch branches" when i checkout to the other branch without doing a stash or without using "-f" in git-checkout.

i have checked "stackoverflow.com/questions/1304626/git-switch-branch-and-ignore-any-changes-without-committing" but that error doesnt occur and am able to checkout even when i have local changes.

Is there any kind of config that is causing this confusion?