UPSC Aspirants' Deaths: Basement Owners Approach Delhi High Court For Bail

Sarabjeet Singh, Tejinder Singh, Harinder Singh and Parminder Singh, who were arrested on July 28, have moved the high court against the trial court order denying them bail.

The trial court held that the arrest of these 4 joint owners arose from their illegal act of permitting the basement to be used as a coaching institute.

Source : PTI

Four co-owners of the building of the coaching centre where three UPSC aspirants lost their lives to an unfortunate incident of flooding in the library in the basement of Old Rajinder Nagar, have approached the Delhi High Court seeking bail.

Last week, the trial court had denied them bail in the case. Sarabjeet Singh, Tejinder Singh, Harinder Singh and Parminder Singh, who were arrested on July 28, have moved the high court against the trial court order denying them bail.

They have contended that the trial court failed to consider the fact that as co-owners of the basement, they had voluntarily surrendered to the investigating officer, despite not being named in the FIR. The trial court while denying bail to the co-owners of the basements said that even though they voluntarily surrendered before police, it was not sufficient grounds to release them on bail.

The trial court held that the arrest of these 4 joint owners arose from their illegal act of permitting the basement to be used as a coaching institute.

The petition in high court contends that as co-owners, they had merely given the basement and third floor on lease to the coaching institute for running the coaching centre. And this activity is in compliance with the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) norms.

On July 27, an unfortunate flooding of the library in the basement of the Rau’s IAS Study Circle coaching institute, claimed lives of three UPSC aspirants Tanya Soni, 21, Shreya Yadav, 25, and Nevin Delvin, 29. Following massive protests by students in Rajinder nagar, Karol Bagh and Mukherjee Nagar where most of these institutes are located, the Delhi High Court and Supreme Court took suo motu cognisance of the case.

The Delhi government also promised a law to regulate the coaching institutes running across Delhi. The investigation in the case was handed over to the CBI.