Delhi HC declines urgent hearing of plea for hostels in all DU colleges

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday declined to urgently hear a petition seeking directions to Delhi University (DU) to provide hostel facilities in every college, a day after the court expressed concern over the shortage of student accommodation following the Satya Niketan building collapse

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday declined to urgently hear a petition seeking directions to Delhi University (DU) to provide hostel facilities in every college, a day after the court expressed concern over the shortage of student accommodation following the Satya Niketan building collapse.

Debris cleared from the Satya Niketan site three days after the collapse. (Sanchit Khanna/HT Photo)

A bench of chief justice DK Upadhyaya and justice Tejas Karia refused to list the petition urgently after a lawyer sought a hearing on Tuesday, noting that the court had already heard a petition, which was filed on Monday.

“One PIL has already been filed. Tomorrow it will come. Unnecessarily you waste your own time. Can by way of an interim direction such a direction be issued? File it, it will be auto listed tomorrow,” the bench said.

On Monday, the same bench directed the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to conduct an inquiry at the highest executive level into the Satya Niketan collapse, including whether the building had been constructed with valid permissions and whether any officials were responsible for lapses.

The court had said the incident was “unfortunate” and prima facie held that responsibility for such mishaps did not lie solely with the owner of the paying guest (PG) accommodation, but also with MCD and university authorities responsible for ensuring compliance with building bye-laws.

“Had the authorities been alive to the responsibilities and duties casted on them statutorily, such incidents could have been avoided,” the bench said.

It had also raised concern over inadequate hostel facilities at DU, saying the shortage was forcing students from outside Delhi to rely on private PGs that could pose risks to their safety.

“PGs are not only very dangerous, they are causing threat to the life, security of students. This is because of inadequate number of hostels available to the students,” the bench said, asking the government to “double down” on efforts to provide hostels.

A five-storey building housing DU students in Satya Niketan collapsed on Sunday, killing at least seven people and injuring five others, in what was the latest in a string of building collapses in the Capital in recent months. Police said renovation work was under way at the PG accommodation when it collapsed around 1.30pm. The building was estimated to be 40-50 years old.

Police arrested the property owner, Hariram Gupta, 81, a Gurugram resident, and registered an FIR against him and unidentified others under sections 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 290 (negligent conduct in pulling down, repairing or constructing buildings) and 125 (act endangering the life or personal safety of others) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita at South Campus Police Station.

Delhi chief minister Rekha Gupta has ordered a magisterial inquiry into the collapse.