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Delhi coaching centre deaths: LG VK Saxena approves suspension of 2 fire service officers
Divisional Officer Ved Pal and Assistant Divisional Officer Udai Vir Singh, both Group 'A' officers, have been accused of negligence and withholding information
Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena has approved the immediate suspension of two Delhi Fire Services officers for alleged negligence in connection with the deaths of three civil service aspirants in a flooded basement of a coaching centre that happened on July 27, news agency PTI reported.
Divisional officer Ved Pal and assistant divisional officer Udai Vir Singh, both Group 'A' officers, have been accused of negligence and withholding information, the LG office said.
“Ved Pal, Divisional Officer, and Udai Vir Singh, Assistant Divisional Officer, have been placed under suspension following a thorough investigation into the incident,” the note stated.
The district magistrate’s detailed inquiry revealed the suspended officers had inspected the premises for issuing a Fire Safety Certificate but “failed to report the misuse of the basement as a library”.
“They also did not refer the matter to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), leading to the erroneous issuance of the Fire Safety Certificate on July 9,” it added.
The investigation further highlighted lapses by MCD authorities, who neglected their duty to inspect and seal the illegal library and issued a completion-cum-occupancy certificate in September 2021.
Action is also being initiated against other officials of the MCD and Public Works Department (PWD) responsible for the inadequate drainage infrastructure in the area, the note stated.
Following the suspension orders, the case will be forwarded to the National Capital Civil Service Authority for recommendations on further disciplinary measures, the statement added.
In the incident, the basement of Rau's IAS coaching centre in Old Rajendra Nagar was inundated within minutes during heavy rainfall, resulting in the deaths of three students trapped inside. The basement was being used as a library.
Latest developments
The Delhi high court on December 11 sought the CBI's response to a plea challenging the interim bail granted to the CEO and coordinator of Rau's IAS Study Circle, where three civil service aspirants drowned in the building's basement.
Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma issued notices to the CBI and the coaching centre's CEO, Abhishek Gupta, and coordinator, Deshpal Singh, following a petition by J Dalvin Suresh, the father of one of the deceased students, Nevin Delvin. Suresh's plea seeks to revoke the bail and remand the duo to CBI custody.
The trial court had granted the two men interim bail on September 23 after over 54 days in custody, noting that the building's co-owners were already on interim bail. In November, the high court extended the interim bail of the four co-owners of the Old Rajendra Nagar coaching centre basement until January 21.
The three IAS aspirants — Tanya Soni, Shreya Yadav, and Nevin Delvin — drowned in July after heavy rainfall caused severe flooding in the building's unauthorised basement library, operated by Rau's IAS Study Circle.
The co-owners of the premises — Sarabjeet Singh, Tejinder Singh, Harinder Singh, and Parminder Singh — were arrested on July 28, a day after the incident. The case was handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on August 2.
(With PTI inputs)
