High Court hands over Delhi coaching accident case to CBI
New Delhi, 02 August (HS): Delhi High Court has handed over the investigation of the death of three UPSC candidates due to waterlogging in the basement of IAS coaching in Rajendra Nagar to CBI. A bench headed by Acting Chief Justice Manmohan ordered a CBI investigation. The High Court directed the Central Vigilance Commission to nominate a senior officer to monitor the CBI investigation.
The High Court said that a CBI investigation is necessary considering the nature of the incident. The decision to conduct a CBI investigation has been taken so that people do not have any doubts about the investigation. The High Court directed the Central Vigilance Commission to nominate a senior officer to monitor the CBI investigation. The High Court said that it is a fact that the municipal bodies of Delhi do not have funds for infrastructure. The High Court said that drains were built in Delhi 75 years ago. The maintenance of these drains is very poor. The earlier orders of the High Court were not implemented.
During the hearing, the Commissioner of Delhi Municipal Corporation said that the drains were not working in that area. He said that the drains have been encroached upon by local people and shopkeepers at many places. The Municipal Commissioner assured the court that the drains would be made encroachment free and action would be taken against the corporation officials responsible for the encroachment. On July 31, the High Court reprimanded the Delhi Police and Delhi Municipal Corporation and ordered the Municipal Commissioner, the DCP of the district and the investigating officer to appear in the court on the next hearing with all the files.
During the hearing, the counsel for the petitioners said that what happened in Rajendra Nagar is more than unfortunate. He had said that in 2019, an IRS and a foreigner died in a hotel fire. A few months ago, there was also a fire incident in Mukherjee Nagar coaching and a fire in a nursing home. We are living in a place where people are dying from fire and water.
The petitioner's lawyer had said that in the year 2023, the court had also issued instructions to the Delhi Municipal Corporation and other local authorities, but a year has passed but no action has been taken. On June 26 this year, a letter was sent to the administration regarding the illegal operation of the coaching center, but no action was taken on that either. If action had been taken on time, the lives of those three people could have been saved. Many libraries are running in basements in residential areas, but it is not known why the Municipal Corporation is completely silent. Many current commissioners have property there, which is the bitter truth. The petitioner said that a high-level investigation is required in this matter to find out what has prevented the officials from taking action.
The petitioner's lawyer said that there are many multi-storey buildings in Patel Nagar, Karol Bagh, Rajendra Nagar in Delhi. About 50-60 students are living in one building. Even PGs of students are running in the basement. The government has appointed a representative of the Municipal Corporation to stop illegal construction in every area, but they are not working. The fire department is deliberately not taking action. The district level officer should be held responsible.
A petition was filed by an organization called Kutumb demanding the formation of a high-level committee to investigate the matter. The petition demanded that guidelines be issued to investigate the unauthorized commercial construction and running of coaching institutes in Delhi without any standards. The petition said that many lives were lost in the last few years due to corruption of department officials. Delhi Government, Delhi Municipal Corporation, Delhi Jal Board and Delhi Fire Service have been made parties in the petition.
