Coaching centre deaths: Old Rajendra Nagar building owners move court for bail

The bail applications will be heard by the principal district and sessions judge, Anju Bajaj Chandna, with arguments scheduled for Wednesday

The four individuals who jointly own the building that housed the coaching centre in Old Rajendra Nagar, where three students drowned in its basement, have approached a Delhi court on Tuesday seeking bail in the case.

Three students drowned in the flooded basement of the coaching centre on July 27. (Sanchit Khanna/HT Photo)

The bail applications will be heard by the principal district and sessions judge, Anju Bajaj Chandna, with arguments scheduled for Wednesday.

The four individuals — Sarabjeet Singh, Tejinder Singh, Harvinder Singh and Parminder Singh — were arrested by the Delhi Police on July 28.

The accused have approached the court challenging the order of the magistrate who refused to grant bail to them on July 31.

Read Here | Coaching institutes can’t be ‘death chambers’: Supreme Court

The case pertained to the tragedy that took place on July 27 evening, claiming the lives of three students — Tanya Soni, 21, Shreya Yadav, 25, and Nevin Delvin, 29 — who drowned when the basement library of Rau’s IAS Study Circle flooded within no time after heavy localised rainfall, leaving no chance for them to escape.

“The dismissal order /impugned order dated 31.07.2024 does not deal with the contentions/ submissions/ written submissions and evidence brought on record by the applicant and has been passed in a cryptic and stereotype manner,” the bail application said.

It was further stated in the bail application that the magistrate failed to consider the fact that the accused did not attract section 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita as they never “intended” nor had any “knowledge” to commit such a crime. It was also stated in the application that sections 105 and 106 (death by negligence), which have been invoked in the FIR, are contradictory in nature.

Read Here: Days before IAS coaching deaths, UPSC aspirant died by suicide due to ‘immense pressure’

The bail application further stated that after an inspection in July 2024, the fire department stated that the premises is safe to run a coaching centre. As per the lease deed the lessee (coaching centre) is responsible for procuring necessary permissions from the local authorities such as Delhi Development Authority (DDA), Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and other local authorities for running the coaching centre within permissible parameters, it added.

“The applicant has been arrested to draw the attention away from civic authorities, which are in collusion with the police, which can also be seen from the fact that no person other than the owner of the institute and landowners and one other private individual have been arrested,” the application further added.

It was also stated that the rain causing flood in the basement was an “Act of God” and it would have been avoided if the civic agencies have acted in accordance with the law and diligently to prevent the unfortunate incident.