The Delhi High Court sought a response from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on the bail petitions of the four co-owners of the basement of the coaching center in national capital’s Old Rajendra Nagar, where three IAS aspirants drowned in July this year.
The basement owners are currently in jail. Recently, a trial court denied them bail. The court said that the co-owners liability stemmed from their illegal act of allowing the basement to be used as a coaching institute.
The case pertains to the deaths of three students who were preparing for civil services. They drowned in the basement due to waterlogging after heavy rains. A bench led by Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma issued notice to the central agency on the bail petitions of basement co-owners Parvinder Singh, Tajinder Singh, Harvinder Singh, and Sarabjit Singh and sought a response on the matter.
Terming the case ‘unfortunate’, Justice Sharma said that the case is ‘not an ordinary case’. The court has directed the CBI to present ‘concrete evidence’. The matter has been scheduled for further hearing on September 11, 2024. It also asked the father of one of the students killed in the incident to give a “brief reply” to the bail petitions.
Civil services aspirants Shreya Yadav (25) from Uttar Pradesh, Tanya Soni (25) from Telangana, and Naveen Delvin (24) from Kerala drowned after the basement of the Rau IAS Study Circle coaching center got flooded following heavy rains on the evening of July 27.
The case is being investigated under the Indian Justice Code (BNS), including Section 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder). The High Court has handed over the investigation of the case from the Delhi Police to the CBI.
The four co-owners of the basement argued that they were only the owners of the basement, which was rented out to the coaching center, and hence they have no role in the unfortunate incident.
Earlier, a trial court had rejected the bail plea of the accused, saying that the CBI investigation is still in the initial stage and their specific roles in the case need to be ascertained.
