Over a week after three UPSC aspirants died after a library in the basement of a coaching centre in Delhi got inundated amid heavy rainfall, a magisterial probe into the incident slammed the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and the fire department for “malafide intentions” and “violating laws”.
According to a probe report submitted to the revenue minister, the MCD and fire department officials noticed the ‘violation of rules’ in the IAS Rau’s coaching centre building but did not take any action.
“The failure to seal the basement after the issue of misuse notice and not even mentioning the same in the show cause notice and misleading the deputy commissioner of the factual field position of misuse appears to be deliberate misconduct with malafide intentions on the part of the concerned engineers of the building department of MCD,” the report said, citing an MCD notice over ‘misuse of property’ issued last year after a fire incident at a coaching institute in Mukherjee Nagar.
The fire department also failed to refer to the “misuse” of the building’s basement as a library to the MCD during an inspection last month, the report added, calling it a “serious lapse”.
Also read: UPSC aspirants death: CBI reaches Rau’s IAS coaching centre; accused move court for bail
The submitted report also said that the building where the recent incident took place had received permission for office or business use – which did not require a No Objection Certificate (NOC). However, the NOC was needed as it was being used for educational purposes and was over nine metres high, the report said, as reported by PTI.
The report has also blamed the MCD officials for encroachment on stormwater drains and lack of desilting, accusing it of “passing the buck” and “shrugging off their responsibility” to cover their failure.
Magisterial probe on owners of IAS Rau’s
According to the report on the magisterial probe into the incident, the coaching centre’s owners and management were also responsible for criminal negligence by indulging in dangerous misuse of the basement without regard to the lives of the students.
IAS Rau’s Coaching Centre tragedy
On July 25, three UPSC aspirants – Shreya Yadav from Ambedkar Nagar, Uttar Pradesh, Tanya Soni from Telangana, and Nivin Dalwin from Ernakulam, Kerala – died after a library housed in the basement of Rau’s IAS centre was flooded, reportedly leading to the failure of the single biometric entry and exit point in the coaching centre.
Also read: UPSC aspirant death: Video shows the moment water entered coaching centre basement | WATCH
According to the police, there were around 30 students in the coaching centre – out of which 12 to 14 were rescued and taken to a hospital, while others managed to escape.
A day after the tragedy, the Delhi Police arrested two people – Abhishek Gupta, 41, the CEO and owner of the institute, and DP Singh, 60, coordinator – under charges of culpable homicide.
Shortly after the incident, the Delhi government’s revenue minister ordered a magisterial probe, and a preliminary report was submitted on July 29.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) took over the probe into the death of three civil services aspirants and re-registered its case after procuring the first information report (FIR) lodged by the Delhi Police on Tuesday evening. Shortly after, a CBI team also visited the coaching centre.
The probe agency has recorded statements from 15 people, including students and officials of various departments, reported PTI.
(With inputs from PTI)
