The Delhi High Court on Monday (September 14, 2026) refused to urgently list a plea raising concerns over the MCD’s decision to demolish the building adjoining the Satya Niketan hostel that collapsed last week.

A lawyer told a Bench of Chief Justice D. K. Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia that the authorities proceeded with the demolition without removing the debris from the hostel’s basement, and some people may still be trapped. The lawyer mentioned the matter for an urgent hearing.

The court observed that the authorities must have conducted an audit before demolishing the adjoining building and asked the lawyer not to file a petition “in air”.

“What’s the source of information that there are persons below the debris? How do you know? They must have conducted some type of technical audit before deciding to demolish the adjoining building. It’s all your guesswork that there might be some people. You should have some basis for making such submissions,” the court told the lawyer.

Stating that the plea would be listed in turn, the Bench added, “What’s so urgent? You should not file the petition just in air. What is the technical information available to you?” The building at Satya Niketan, which housed a boys’ paying-guest accommodation near Delhi University’s South Campus, collapsed on September 6 while repair work was underway.

The high court, on September 7, ordered a high-level MCD inquiry into the building collapse incident at Satya Niketan that left seven people dead and made it clear that the government cannot evade responsibility.

It said the incident was not only unfortunate, but it also evoked deep concern about inadequate housing facilities, including hostels run by Delhi University or the government, safety and security of students and not-so-adequate measures employed by the MCD and other authorities to regulate such PG facilities.

On September 8, the civic authority began a controlled demolition of the building adjoining the collapsed hostel after deeming it dangerous.

The building housed a girls’ paying-guest accommodation and was evacuated after the collapse of the neighbouring five-storey structure.

With suitcases rolling behind them and bags slung over their shoulders, students streamed out of the congested lanes of Satya Niketan late on Sunday (September 6, 2026) night, some still in the clothes they had slept in.

The collapse of a nearby PG building had left many too frightened to spend another night in the neighbourhood they had called home.

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For Anushriti, a native of Kanpur who had lived in Satya Niketan for nearly a year, the fear is still raw. She had left for a friend’s home in Moti Bagh with little more than the phone in her hand.

“I am in my night dress from the past 24 hours with just a phone in my hand. I am stranded now- can’t go to my hometown neither can I return to the PG,” she said.

She was sleeping during the day when the building collapsed nearby. The impact was so strong that her bed shook, and her first thought was that her own PG had given way.

“The building I lived in is very close to the building that collapsed. It doesn’t feel right,” she said. Her belongings remain on the fourth floor of her PG, but she has been too traumatised to return. “I just need to go back there to get my basic things and I am just mentally preparing.”

For many students, the decision to leave was taken within hours. Those who had families in other cities booked flights and left for home, while students whose relatives live in or around Delhi moved in with them. Others sought refuge with friends and seniors.

Pragya, who had shifted to Satya Niketan only a month ago and studies at Aryabhatta College, moved to her cousin’s home in Chirag Gali after the collapse. She had been in the same lane that morning to get breakfast, and later found herself overwhelmed by the sound of sirens and emergency vehicles.

“When I reached Chirag Gali, I just hugged my sister and cried for 15 minutes,” she said. Her parents, she added, panicked and asked her to find another PG.

“It doesn’t feel like you’re living. It’s just surviving,” said Pragya, who is from Jharkhand. “I will look for some other place now. I don’t want to go back there.”

For Unnayan, the fear followed him even after he returned briefly to his PG. He eventually left for his friend’s place in Ber Sarai at around 1 a.m., unable to convince himself that the building was safe.

“I went back to my PG in the night and I sat there and felt even this building would also go down. I decided to just leave,” he said. He could not sleep through the night.

The departures continued through the night as students, many carrying whatever they could gather quickly, made their way out of the densely packed neighbourhood.

Student representatives estimated that more than 100 students left for their hometowns or relatives’ homes.

For those who had nowhere else to go, temporary arrangements were made by fellow students and seniors. Students have been accommodated at places including Meena Bagh, while classrooms at Venkateshwara College and Aryabhatta College have been turned into temporary shelters, with mattresses laid out for students who have been displaced.

Many students said they did not want to return to their PGs until the Municipal Corporation of Delhi conducted safety checks and gave them some assurance that the buildings they were living in were safe.

The formal function to mark the launch of the BJP’s new State headquarters in Goa was curtailed on Sunday (September 6, 2026) following a building collapse in New Delhi, even as Union Home Minister Amit Shah inaugurated the premises in the coastal State.

Mr. Shah, who is on a three-day tour to Goa, visited the party office in Chimbel village near Panaji and inaugurated it. While the event was underway, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant announced its curtailment due to a building crash in the national capital.

Delhi building collapse LIVE updates

A five-storey building housing a boys’ PG collapsed in south Delhi’s Satya Niketan area on Sunday (September 6, 2026) afternoon, leaving one dead and several people trapped, officials said.

“Since there is a tragedy in New Delhi, we have decided not to go ahead with the function,” Mr. Sawant said, adding that Mr. Shah, who left the venue, had extended his best wishes to the party workers on the inauguration of a new office building.

Several leaders, including BJP Goa president Damodar Naik, Union minister Shripad Naik, and Rajya Sabha MP Sadanand Shet Tanavade, were present for the programme.

Talking to reporters, Mr. Sawant said efforts are going on to rescue all those trapped under the debris at the collapse site in Delhi.