4 co-owners of IAS coaching centre basement, where 3 aspirants died, get bail by Delhi high court

Delhi high court grants interim bail to the four co owners of the coaching centre basement in Old Rajendra Nagar

The Delhi high court on Friday granted interim bail to four co-owners of the coaching centre basement in Old Rajinder Nagar, where three IAS aspirants drowned, till January 30.

Three IAS aspirants drowned at the basement of Rau's IAS Study Circle institute in Delhi's Old Rajinder Nagar on July 27.(HT file)

A bench of justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma however directed the co-owners to deposit a sum of ₹5 crore to the Red Cross, saying that they committed an act of greed by letting out the basement.

The high court also directed the lieutenant governor to form a committee headed by the retired judge of the high court for ensuring that no coaching centre runs without sanction and also carve out a place where the centres should run.

Shreya Yadav (25) of Uttar Pradesh, Tanya Soni (25) from Telangana and Nevin Delvin (24) from Kerala died after the basement of the building housing Rau's IAS Study Circle was flooded following heavy rain in central Delhi's Old Rajinder Nagar on July 27 evening.

The co-owners of the basement -- Parvinder Singh, Tajinder Singh, Harvinder Singh and Sarbjit Singh, sought bail on the grounds that they are merely the landlords of the basement which was let out on rental basis to the coaching centre and, therefore, they had no role whatsoever in the unfortunate event.

The CBI had opposed the bail plea of the accused and argued that the probe was in initial stage and the four of them should not be granted relief until independent witnesses are examined.

‘Why so much waterlogging on that day?’: Delhi HC to CBI
 

On Thursday, the high court had asked the CBI to state the reason for waterlogging on July 27 when the incident took place. 

“What was the reason on that day? Delhi has witnessed heavy downpours. Why so much waterlogging on that day? Was it the rain or something else,” Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma had asked while hearing the bail plea of the four co-accused.

The CBI counsel said according to the statement of the witnesses, 35-40 students were present in the basement at the time of the incident and water rose within seconds in a "dam failure" like manner after the gates broke down.

(With PTI inputs)