Delhi coaching centre deaths: Court refuses bail to SUV driver, 4 basement co-owners

NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Wednesday dismissed bail pleas of an SUV driver and four basement co-owners arrested in connection with the death of three UPSC aspirants who drowned in their coaching centre in the national capital.
Tis Hazari Court's judicial magistrate Vinod Kumar rejected the bail plea of driver Manuj Kathuria and basement owners Tejinder Singh, Parvinder Singh, Harvinder Singh, and Sarabjeet Singh.
"All the bail applications are dismissed," the judge said, reported news agency PTI.
"It seems your officers believe there is no need to comply with orders. Only one person has gone to Jail from MCD. Delhi Police has arrested some bystander who was driving a car there. What is the Police doing?" the court said as per Live Law.
The court has also called a reply from IO on a plea seeking a direction to declare the arrest of Manuj Kathuria illegal and listed the matter for August 7.
Kathuria has been 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 and inundate the basement. The four co-owners have been charged with abetting the offences. All five accused were arrested on Monday.
Earlier in the day, the Delhi high court criticised authorities over the deaths of the civil service aspirants, attributing such tragedies to a "freebies culture" that leads to inadequate tax collection and insufficient infrastructure.
The court commented on the ongoing investigation, highlighting police actions against a passerby while noting the absence of any action against MCD officials.
The high court suggested the possibility of involving a central agency to investigate the incident and ordered the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) commissioner, the concerned deputy commissioner of police, and the case's investigating officer to appear before it on Friday.
The hearing was in response to a plea seeking a high-level committee to investigate the unfortunate deaths of the three civil service aspirants, who lost their lives in the basement of a flooded coaching centre in Old Rajinder Nagar on the evening of July 27.