Delhi coaching center deaths: 4 co-owners get interim bail
What's the story
The Delhi High Court on Friday granted interim bail to the four co-owners of a basement in Old Rajinder Nagar, where three Indian Administrative Service (IAS) aspirants died in July.
The bail will be effective until January 30, 2025.
On July 27, Shreya Yadav (25) from Uttar Pradesh, Tanya Soni (25) from Telangana, and Nevin Delvin (24) from Kerala died due to flooding in the coaching center's basement after overnight rains.
Verdict details
Court criticizes co-owners' actions, imposes fine
While granting bail, Justice DK Sharma criticized the actions of the four co-owners as "unpardonable" and indicative of their "greed."
The court also ordered them to deposit ₹5 crore with the Red Cross Society.
Additionally, it urged the Lieutenant Governor (LG) of Delhi to establish a committee under a retired High Court judge's supervision to ensure no coaching centers operate in basements across Delhi.
Investigation update
CBI's opposition to bail and case transfer
The High Court had previously transferred the case from the Delhi Police to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The CBI opposed the bail pleas, arguing that the investigation was still in its early stages and insisted that the accused should remain in custody until independent witnesses had been questioned.
The agency has filed charges for various alleged offenses, including criminal negligence, dereliction of duties, and corrupt practices by any person, including local authority officials.
Defense argument
Co-owners deny involvement, blame civic agencies
The co-owners of the basement—Parvinder Singh, Tajinder Singh, Harvinder Singh, and Sarbjit Singh—have argued that their only role was as landlords. They claimed that they had rented out the space to the coaching center and were not involved in the incident.
"It was an act of god which happened and it could have been avoided had the civic agencies performed their onerous duties which they have miserably failed to do," an advocate for the accused insisted last month.