UPSC aspirants death: Delhi coaching institute falsely showed basement as store room in NOC documents?

The coaching institute made these false declarations while applying for a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the fire department.

The civil services coaching institute in Delhi's Old Rajendra Nagar where three UPSC civil services aspirants died due to a flooded basement, had allegedly forged documents to show that the building's basement is being used for parking and as a storeroom, government officials investigating the matter told PTI on Sunday.

The incident took place at Rau’s IAS study circle located in Old Rajinder Nagar, central Delhi, on Saturday (PTI Photo)

The coaching institute made these false declarations while applying for a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the fire department. These building plan violations have come to light after the deaths created a huge uproar among the civil services aspirant community in Delhi.

The concerned department in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi approved the three-storey building's plan in 2021. "In the institute's building completion certificate, it is clearly written that it can only be used for parking and storage in the basement. It means that the library was running illegally in the basement," an MCD official told PTI.

Notably, MCD commissioner Ashwani Kumar had suspended several officers from the corporation's building department after taking charge in June. Three more officers from the same department were suspended last week, at the zone where the coaching centre is located.

Delhi Mayor Shelly Oberoi had issued directions to take strict action against coaching institutes found flouting the building norms and fix accountability of if any MCD officer is found culpable for the incident.

Delhi Fire services chief Atul Garg also said that the institute had made a similar misleading claim to the fire department and there was no facility to drain the basement in case of flooding. "The building has fire NOC, but in the NOC, they had shown the basement as a storeroom. The management of the institute was using the same room as a classroom or library, a violation of the NOC," the official added.

Earlier, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Durgesh Pathak claimed that the institute did not have the necessary permission to run a coaching centre or a library in their basement. "There are many buildings like this. I request the government and Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to visit every such institute and investigate,” the Rajendra Nagar MLA said.

Residents of the area have complained that several such institutes operate from their building's basement. Meanwhile, the Delhi police have arrested the owner Abhishek Gupta and the coordinator Deshpal Singh about the death of students.