The Delhi High Court on Friday rapped city police and municipal body over the drowning of three civil services aspirants at the basement of a coaching centre in the Rajinder Nagar area and also over the arrest of an SUV driver not related to the mishap.
"Mercifully, you have not challaned rainwater for entering into basement, the way you arrested the SUV driver for driving his car there," the Delhi High Court said.
Three students died Saturday, July 27, evening after the basement of the Rau's IAS Study Circle building in central Delhi's Old Rajinder Nagar area was flooded following heavy rain.
The Delhi High Court on Friday also referred the investigation to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and requested the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) to monitor it. The court also indicated that there are issues with the functioning of the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) and that a comprehensive review of the entire setup is necessary.
The High Court remarked that it would not be wrong to conclude that Delhi's civic agencies lack the necessary funds for major infrastructure projects, reported news agency ANI. The court noted that much of Delhi’s physical infrastructure, such as drains, is outdated, having been laid nearly 75 years ago, and is both inadequate and poorly maintained.
Manuj Kathuria was accused of driving his Force Gurkha car through the street that was flooded by rainwater, causing the water to swell and breach the gates of the three-storey building housing the coaching centre and inundate the basement, where the three students were killed.
Manuj Kathuria was arrested on Monday along with four co-owners of the basement and sent to 14-day judicial custody.
A Delhi court on Thursday allowed the second bail plea of Manuk Kathuria. During the proceedings, the Delhi Police told the court that they have decided to drop harsher charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder against Manuj Kathuria, the SUV driver.
Additional Sessions Judge Rakesh Kumar was hearing an appeal against the denial of bail to Kathuria by a magisterial court on Wednesday.
After the court's order, Kathurai's counsel senior advocate Vikas Pahwa said, "It is incredibly disheartening that an innocent man had to endure four days in jail due to an outrageous and unjust arrest, seemingly based on the baseless and imaginative accusations of a police officer."
Kathuria, who was being blamed for the deaths of the three students by the authorities, sought his bail on Tuesday, saying he did not have the knowledge what's going to happen, or intention to cause the incident.
Additional Public Prosecutor Atul Srivastava opposed the bail plea, saying Kathuria was not guilty of "contributory negligence," but he aggravated the incident.
The APP played in court a few videos taken from Kathuria's social media accounts, showing him driving the same SUV, and said, "I am sorry to use this term. But he is mastikhor aur masti mein inhone ye sab kar diya... In having fun he caused the incident."
