A court in Delhi on Wednesday rejected the bail pleas of an SUV driver and four other coaching centre owners in Old Rajinder Nagar area which was flooded following heavy rain and led to the deaths of three civil services aspirants on July 27.
“All the bail applications are dismissed,” Judicial Magistrate Vinod Kumar said, rejecting the bail plea of driver Manuj Kathuria and basement owners Tejinder Singh, Parvinder Singh, Harvinder Singh, and Sarabjeet Singh. They were arrested on July 29.
Kathuria is accused of speeding his Force Gurkha car through the rainwater flooded street, causing the water to swell and breach the gates of the three-storey building of Rau’s IAS Study Circle in Delhi’s Old Rajinder Nagar area and inundate its basement.
The four co-owners have been charged with abetting the offences.
Reason for bail denial to SUV driver Manoj Kathuria
As per the order copy accessed by News18, the court noted that the allegations against the accused Manuj Kathuria are “serious in nature” and observed that in the CCTV footage it was seen he was driving the vehicle on an already waterlogged road at such a speed causing large displacement of water.
“As a result of which the gate of the alleged premises gave way and the water went into the basement and consequently three innocent lives have been lost in the said incident,” the court order stated.
The court further said the CCTV footage also showed that Kathuria was “warned of the dangers ahead by some passers-by, but he did not pay any heed.”
Why was bail denied to four co-owners?
The court said that allegations against the accused person are “serious in nature” as the basement of the premises was being used for commercial purpose contrary to completion cum occupancy certificate.
“Perusal of the lease deed dated 05.06.2022 executed between the applicants/ accused persons and the alleged coaching institute shows that the leased premises were being used for commercial purposes contrary to the conditions of the completion cum occupancy certificate issued by the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) in complete violation of law,” the court noted.
Dismissing their bail applications, the court said, “The investigation is at its nascent stage. Keeping in view of facts and circumstances of the case as well as seriousness of the offences, the prayer of applicants/ accused persons seeking his enlargement on bail, appears to be untenable and as such the present application deserves to be dismissed.”
On Saturday, three civil service aspirants – Shreya Yadav (25) from Uttar Pradesh, Tanya Soni (25) from Telangana, and Nevin Delvin (24) from Kerala – died when the basement of their coaching centre in Old Rajinder Nagar got flooded following heavy rain.
The incident has led to a massive uproar with students protesting and people, especially parents, questioning the institute’s flouting of norms as well as failure of the authorities to ensure proper enforcement of laws.
With inputs from agencies
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