A probe into statutory officials, including those from the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), Delhi Jal Board, and fire department, is underway in connection with the July death of three Indian Administrative Services aspirants in a coaching centre basement, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) informed the Delhi High Court (HC).
The investigative agency informed the high court that, based on the findings of the investigation thus far, a charge sheet against six people was filed before a trial court on September 26 under the provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
The CBI submitted to Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela that no criminality could be attributed to the role of Manuj Kathuria, the owner and driver of the SUV who was previously arrested for driving his car through a flooded road, causing the water to swell and gush into the building that served as the coaching centre; thus, his name has not been set up for trial.
The court directed the CBI to provide a new status report on the case's investigation within four weeks.
During the hearing, CBI counsel Rajesh Kumar shared that the status report had been filed in a sealed cover since disclosing key facts at this time might jeopardise the probe.
Further investigation of statutory officials, including MCD, Fire Department, and DJB officials, is underway, and the CBI has conducted searches and seizures, the contents of which are being reviewed, according to the CBI's counsel.
He stated that the six accused against whom the charge sheet has been filed are already free on temporary bail.
The agency stated that it has filed three reports to the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) per the court's ruling of August 2.
The court had previously urged the CVC to appoint a senior official to oversee the CBI's investigation into the criminal matter in a timely way.
On Monday, the court also instructed the MCD commissioner to file the progress report as per the previous ruling.
The lawyer for the Delhi government informed the court that the chief secretary had drafted the report and sought the court to provide four additional weeks to file the report, which required permission from the minister in question.
The bench, on the other hand, stated that the chief secretary was chosen as the chairman of the committee by the court and that the report must be delivered directly to the court without the concurrence of anybody else.
It had created a committee to address the issue and submit a report, led by the Delhi chief secretary and including the DDA vice-chairman, Delhi Police commissioner, and MCD commissioner.
The bench also ordered that encroachments and unlawful constructions be removed from the Rajinder Nagar neighbourhood, including those on stormwater and sewage drains.
The court was hearing a petition by Kutumb, a group that wanted a high-level commission to probe the deaths of three Civil Service aspirants in the basement of a flooded coaching institution, Rau's IAS Study Circle, in Old Rajinder Nagar (ORN) on July 27.
The three aspirants killed were Shreya Yadav (25) of Uttar Pradesh, Tanya Soni (25) of Telangana, and Nevin Delvin (24) of Kerala.
