New Delhi:

The Supreme Court on Friday directed a Union government-appointed committee probing the death of three civil services aspirants in the basement of a coaching centre in Delhi in July to submit an interim report about the measures it wanted to be taken to prevent the recurrence of such incidents within four weeks.

On July 27, three civil services aspirants drowned in the basement library of Rau’s IAS Study Circle in the Old Rajinder Nagar area after it was flooded following heavy rain.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan directed the Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi governments to apprise the court of the policy and legislative and administrative changes made to prevent a repeat of such incidents.

It said uniform initiatives should be taken in the entire National Capital Region (NCR) to prevent another Old Rajinder Nagar-type incident from happening.

“If the need arises, we will pass directions for pan-India to prevent Old Rajinder Nagar-type incidents,” the bench said.

Attorney General R Venkataramani submitted that the Centre has constituted a high-level committee to look into the unfortunate deaths that happened in Old Rajinder Nagar.

When the bench asked him how much time the panel would take to submit its report, the AG said it was likely within two months.

“This is a serious issue. You should expedite the consultation process as action is needed on an urgent basis. We want the committee to submit its interim measures within four weeks,” the bench told Mr Venkataramani. The top government law officer said the interim report will be submitted within that period.

The court said the panel can consider intervention at legislative, policy, and administrative levels, and can seek the views of all stakeholders before making its recommendations.

“What happened in Old Rajinder Nagar was an unfortunate incident, which should not be repeated elsewhere. You need to look at various aspects like existing regulations and the changes required. The existing structures which are residential complexes where these coaching institutes were running are not meant for these kinds of activities,” the bench observed.

The bench said it would be covering the “wider canvas” and would examine the issue at the pan-India level to ensure that such incidents were not repeated elsewhere.

Senior advocate Aprajita Singh, appearing for the father of one of the victims, said she wanted to be impleaded in the matter. The bench allowed her intervention application and asked other intervenors to give their suggestions to the committee.

The bench asked the governments of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi, as also the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to apprise the court of steps they proposed to take to prevent such incidents in future.

The bench clarified that the proceedings before the top court would not come in the way of a task force constituted by the Delhi High Court on the issue.

On August 5, the top court had observed that coaching centres have become “death chambers” and were playing with the lives of students.

It had taken cognisance of the matter while hearing a petition filed by an association of coaching centres challenging a December 2023 Delhi High Court order which directed the city’s fire services and the civic body to inspect all coaching centres here to ascertain if they are complying with fire safety norms.

The high court had transferred the probe into the death of the three students from the Delhi Police to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) “to ensure the public has no doubt over the investigation”.

The three UPSC aspirants who drowned to death were Shreya Yadav (25) of Uttar Pradesh, Tanya Soni (25) of Telangana and Nevin Delvin (24) of Kerala. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

“What is the Delhi Police doing? Have they lost it?” wondered the Delhi High Court on Wednesday, while castigating the police for a “strange” probe by arresting an SUV driver for his alleged role in the drowning of three civil services aspirants at a coaching centre here.

The strong words of the high court, however, did not come to the rescue of jailed SUV driver whose bail plea was dismissed by a magisterial court later in the day.

Judicial Magistrate Vinod Kumar rejected the bail plea of five accused, including SUV driver Manuj Kathuria, who was termed a “masti-khor” (fun lover) by the Delhi Police in their vehement opposition to his bail plea.

In the high court, a bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela said a “strange probe” was going on with the Delhi Police taking action against a man who drove a car outside the coaching centre in Old Rajinder Nagar here but not acting against the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) officials.

“What is the Delhi Police doing? Have they lost it? What are its officials who are monitoring the probe doing? This is a cover-up or what?” the court said.

The bench said the police have arrested a bystander or some person who was driving the car over there. It asked whether some official (of MCD) has been held accountable for the incident till now.

“We are telling you, once the responsibility is fixed on officials, no such incident will ever happen in future,” the bench said.

The high court was hearing a plea by an organisation, Kutumb, seeking the constitution of a high-level committee to investigate the deaths of the three civil service aspirants on the evening of July 27.

During the hearing, the bench allowed an oral prayer of the petitioner’s advocate Rudra Vikram Singh to implead Delhi Police as a party to the petition.

“Where is the police? Who is investigating this matter? They are trying to get hold of any passerby or driver and saying this happened because you drove a car.

“Has any official been caught or interrogated? Have they interrogated the official who has not de-silted this drain? Was the drain de-silted properly and in time?” the court asked and said “some sort of very strange investigation is going on”.

The court hinted at asking a central agency to probe the incident and directed the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) commissioner, deputy commissioner of police concerned and the investigating officer (IO) of the case to appear before it on Friday.

It said this was strange that no MCD official has been hauled up till now.

“We don’t know whether the IO has seen the de-silting plan or the approved building construction plan. We have no idea whether he has done that or whether he has investigated the role of MCD officials,” the bench said.

The counsel for the Delhi government said he would take instructions from IO on the status of investigation and on the queries raised by the court and apprise it on Friday.

Mr Kathuria has been accused of driving his Force Gurkha car through the street that was flooded by rainwater, causing the water to swell and breach the gates of the three-storey building, where Rau’s IAS Study Circle was being run, and inundate the basement.

The police have registered an FIR under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections 105 (culpable homicide), 106(1) (death of any person by doing any rash or negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide), 115(2) (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) and 290 (negligent conduct with respect to pulling down, repairing or constructing buildings). 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)