Rajinder Nagar coaching centre incident: Delhi HC to hear tomorrow PIL seeking formation of high-level committee to probe incident

New Delhi [India], July 30 (ANI): Delhi High Court may hear public interest litigation (PIL) seeking formation of a high-level committee to investigate the Rajendra Nagar incident, where three people lost their lives.

The matter was mentioned on Tuesday before the bench led by Acting Chief Justice Manmohan, also comprising Justice Tushar Rao Gedela, by Advocate Rudra Vikram Singh for urgent listing of the matter. The bench noted the submissions and said if the requited papers are in order, the matter will be heard tomorrow.

The petition also seeks directions for an investigation into the Municipal Corporation of Delhi officers who allegedly failed to act on a complaint received on June 26.

Petitioner Kutumb, an NGO through its trustee Jitender Singh through advocate Rudhra Vikram Singh. The plea also seeks direction to constitute a district-level committee in each district of Delhi to investigate and address illegal commercial constructions.

“Submit an action taken report concerning the Mukherjee Nagar incident as previously ordered by the court. Formation of a committee to investigate coaching institutes operating illegally or not adhering to standard norms,” the plea demands.

According to the plea, the prayers collectively aim to address systemic issues in regulatory enforcement and ensure accountability in cases of illegal construction and non-compliance by educational institutions.

Plea further submitted that due to the huge corruption involved in the departments of the respondents, many people have lost their lives since years and the national capital has faced many terrible and scary incidents in the past few years.

In a recent incident that happened in a coaching institute situated in Rajinder Nagar, New Delhi, three young civil servant aspirants lost their lives and many others are struggling between life and death due to the negligence of the respondents.

Unfortunately, this was not the first incident in the national capital but many such unfortunate events have taken place in Delhi in the past few years, the Respondents have never taken any preventive measures to avoid such scary incidents.

On July 28, another PIL was moved for directions to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to implement immediate measures to prevent similar incidents in the future. The court’s intervention aims to address and mitigate issues related to waterlogging and improve safety conditions.

Plea stated that last year, a devastating fire engulfed a coaching institute in northwest Delhi’s Mukherjee Nagar, compelling the panic-stricken students to leap out of windows in a desperate bid to escape the fire. Numerous students also resorted to rappelling down the building using ropes as a last-ditch effort to save their lives.

In May, the Delhi High Court ordered the Municipal Corporation of Delhi and Delhi Development Authority to immediately shut down any coaching centre found to be operating in contravention of the prescribed fire safety norms.

The court’s pronouncement came in the wake of several petitions concerning the functioning of coaching centres in the area, including a case that the high court had initiated on its own after taking note of a fire at one such institution in June 2023.

The high court had previously emphasised that the safety of students was an absolute necessity and that all coaching centres must either adhere to the statutory requirements mandated by Delhi Master Plan 2021 and other relevant regulations or face imminent closure, plea read.

As many as three civil service aspirants died after the basement of a coaching centre in Delhi’s Old Rajendra Nagar area was flooded after heavy rainfall hit the national capital, said officials on Saturday.

The Delhi Fire Department received a call from Rau’s IAS Study Circle at around 7 pm on Saturday about the flooded and waterlogged basement.