Delhi High Court reprimands civic body over coaching centre deaths

The Delhi High Court, on July 31 reprimanded the civic body over the deaths of three civil service aspirants in a flooded basement of a coaching centre in Old Rajinder Nagar. 

The court has also summoned the MCD commissioner on August 1.

Hinting at transferring the probe to a central agency, a bench headed by Acting Chief Justice Manmohan directed the authorities to remove all encroachments on Rajinder Nagar area drains by August 2. 

The court was hearing a petition filed by an NGO seeking a probe by a high-level committee into the incident as well as an investigation into coaching institutes running illegally.

Meanwhile, the court also took a jibe at the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government and stated that the court said such tragedies were bound to happen when there was no collection of taxes due to a "freebies culture", as per media reports.

The bench added, "You want to have freebies culture, but don't want to collect taxes... this is bound to happen."

Furthermore, the court also said that multi-storey buildings were being allowed to operate in the area, a popular UPSC coaching hub, but there was no proper drainage further launching a scathing attack at the civic body. The court said it was bankrupt and couldn't even pay salaries to its employees.

A primary investigation has hinted that the drainage system in the area was heavily clogged with silt, which the High Court termed as a "strange probe".

"We understand all stakeholders are responsible... This is a strategy where no person is held responsible. We have to find out where the jurisdiction of one authority ends and the responsibility of another begins," the court said.

The court will continue hearing the matter on August 2.