Drowning deaths: HC seeks CBI response to bail plea of Rajendra Nagar coaching centre co-owners

New Delhi
The Delhi high court on Thursday sought the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) response to the bail plea filed by four co-owners of Rau’s IAS Study Circle coaching centre basement in Old Rajendra Nagar, where three IAS aspirants drowned in July, and also questioned the agency over evidence it collected against the co-owners.
Stressing the agency’s duty to act responsibly, a bench of justice Dinesh Kumar asked CBI to come up with “concrete evidence” over the accountability of co-owners Sarabjeet Singh, Tejinder Singh, Harinder Singh and Parminder Singh.
The court also permitted the father of one of the deceased, Nevin Delvin, to file a short reply over the bail petition and scheduled the next hearing for September 11.
“What is the evidence so far collected by you that they (co-owners) have the intention? High court has posed faith on you (CBI). You (CBI) have to act very responsibly. You are the premier investigating agency. If you have to keep someone behind the bars, you have to have something concrete with you. I will give you time (to file response) but you have to come up with something concrete thing. Not in air,” the judge said to CBI’s counsel.
Calling the incident “unfortunate”, the bench also stressed on the need to lay down steps to ensure that such incidents are not repeated and the counsel for the co-owners, Mohit Mathur, to assist the court in this regard.
“The incident was very unfortunate and you knowing that the basement let it out for commercial… The problem is we send our children to coaching centre spending our hard earned money. Who will see… after all, why such things happen? We have to think about this also. As a responsible lawyer, you tell me what steps should be taken than this should not be like an ordinary case and repeated. Those were not only three children… Next time when the landlord lets out, he or she should think four times… You have to assist the court. Everyone standing in the court is equally painful as to what has happened there,” the bench said to senior advocate Mohit Mathur.
The co-owners approached the high court against a city court order on August 23 rejecting their bail. In their plea, filed through advocates Gaurav Dua and Kaushal Jeet Kait, the co-owners asserted that the city court, while refusing to release them on bail, failed to consider that they voluntarily surrendered to the investigating officer despite not being named in the first information report (FIR). The voluntary subjection, the plea added, clearly pointed towards their bona fides, which was not appreciated by the city court. The co-owners claimed the applicability of Section 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), was a sham and a feeble attempt to increase the gravity of the case.
During the hearing on Thursday, advocate Mathur contended that his clients had been in custody since July 28.
The CBI, represented by SPP Rajesh Kumar, accepted the notice on the agency’s behalf.
On July 27, IAS aspirants Tanya Soni, 21, Shreya Yadav, 25, and Nevin Delvin, 29 drowned when the basement library of Rau’s IAS Study Circle flooded, leaving them with no means of escape.
Initially handled by Delhi Police, CBI later registered a case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, causing death by negligence, voluntarily causing hurt, negligent conduct w.r.t pulling down, repairing, or constructing building etc. and common intention, after the probe was transferred to them by the Delhi high court.