Delhi UPSC Aspirants' Death: CBI Gets Permission For 'Custodial Interrogation' Of Rau's IAS Owner, 5 Others

The CBI has received permission to interrogate the owner of Rau's IAS for "knowingly" using an unapproved basement for commercial purposes, leading to the drowning deaths of three UPSC aspirants.

A Delhi court has granted permission to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for "custodial interrogation" of the owner of Rau's IAS study circle coaching institute where three UPSC aspirants drowned due to waterlogging in old Rajinder Nagar on July 27, over the allegation that he "knowingly" used the basement for commercial purposes despite not having permission from the Municipal Corporation of Delhi. 

Along with Abhishek Gupta, the owner of Rau's IAS study circle, Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Nishant Garg on Saturday also sent other accused Deshpal Singh, Harvinder Singh, Parvinder Singh, Sarabjeet Singh and Tajinder Singh to CBI custody till September 4.

In its submission to the court, the CBI said that Gupta "knowingly" used the basement for commercial purposes in contravention of the usage approved by the MCD. The investigation agency also said that its probe has shown that the institute didn't had a fire safety certificate for nearly one year after the issue was flagged before the Delhi High Court in 2023.

In light of the "seriousness" of the allegations, the CBI sought special court's permission for "custodial interrogation" of all six accused.

CBI's Allegation

CBI said that when the matter was raised before the high court last year that many coaching institutes in the area do not have mandatory fire safety certificates, the MCD also issued a show cause notice to the owner of Rau's IAS study circle to comply with the master plan-2021. In response on August 8, 2023, the coaching owner assured the MCD that he had applied for the fire safety certificate. Finally, the certificate was issued to the institute on July 9, 2024, according to a report by news agency PTI.

The CBI probe has shown that the MCD had given an occupancy certificate to the building on August 9, 2021 "explicitly" stating that the basement can only be used for staircase, lift, lobby, toilet, parking, household storage and car lift. The owner of the coaching institute Abhishek Gupta entered into a lease agreement with the co-owners of the building on January 5, 2022, taking the building on lease for nine years at Rs four lakh per month rent, the probe agency alleged.

As per the agency's findings, the basement of the building was allegedly being used for a library and examination hall, having an 80-90 seating capacity. Students used to sit throughout the day for studies and taking tests. "In contravention of the approved usage of the basement, the lessor and the lessee knowingly agreed to use the basement for the commercial purpose of running the coaching institute," the CBI has told a special court.

Moreover, CBI said that it was found that there was flooding in Old Rajinder Nagar even after moderate rains as it is a low-lying area and the rainwater used to enter the premises. To block the water from entering, steel gates were used in the building.

The agency said its investigation shows that Rau's IAS Study Circle is being run in a building that has "Basement, Stilt/Parking, Upper Ground Floor, First Floor, Second Floor and Third Floor." "All the floors including the basement were used by the said coaching institute. Basement was used for the purpose of library where students used to sit throughout the day for study as well as for taking test conducted by coaching institute," it said.

What Happened on July 27?

CBI investigation revealed that on July 27 at about 6.30 PM, several students were studying in the library located in the basement of the coaching institute while it was raining heavily outside. "The rainwater entered suddenly in the ground floor due to sudden fall of sliding gates of the main building and subsequently entered into the basement resulting in flooding of the same," the agency said earlier.

The CBI said that few students survived but three students namely Shreya Yadav, Tanya Soni and Nevin Dalvin died. Citing the postmortem report, the agency said that the three UPSC aspirants died due to asphyxia caused by ante-mortem drowning.

The case has been, meanwhile, filed under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including Section 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), was transferred from the Delhi Police to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) by the high court on August 2.