The Delhi High Court on Friday transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation the probe related to the death by drowning of three Union Public Service Commission aspirants at a private coaching centre in New Delhi’s Old Rajinder Nagar, reported Bar and Bench.
The three students, enrolled at Rau’s IAS Study Circle, drowned on July 27 when the coaching centre’s basement flooded after a nearby drainage pipeline burst.
A division bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela was hearing a petition seeking a high-level probe into the deaths.
“Keeping in view the seriousness of the incident and that it may involve corruption by public servants, the court transfers the investigation to the CBI [Central Bureau of Investigation],” the bench said, reported India Today. “The Central Vigilance Commission is also directed to nominate an official to overlook the investigation by Central Bureau of Investigation.”
During the hearing, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi told the High Court that the stormwater drain in the area is dysfunctional and has been encroached upon by shopkeepers and residents, reported Bar and Bench.
The court recorded the civic body’s assurance that the encroachment would be removed and five erring officers have been suspended while one officer’s service has been terminated.
“Due to various subsidy schemes, the migration in Delhi is only increasing and its population is also increasing,” the bench said, reported Live Law. “The financial health of civic agencies like MCD [Municipal Corporation of Delhi], if not precarious, is not healthy. This court would not be wrong in concluding that civic agencies in Delhi have no funds to carry out major infrastructure.”
During the previous hearing on Wednesday, the High Court remarked that the state government had no money to upgrade infrastructure because of the “freebie culture”.
On Friday, the court also reprimanded the Delhi Police for arresting a business for his alleged role in the drowning of the students.
The businessman, Manuj Kathuria, was accused of driving his sports utility vehicle through a street adjoining the coaching centre that was flooded by rainwater, causing the water to swell and breach the gates of the building and inundate its basement.
A Delhi court on Thursday granted bail to Kathuria.
On Friday, the High Court said that he was merely passing by and his arrest was unfair.
“Mercifully, you have not challaned rainwater for entering into basement, the way you arrested the SUV driver for driving his car there,” the court told the police.
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