Civil Service aspirants' death in Delhi: Coaching centre "knowingly" used basement for commercial purposes?

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has accused Abhishek Gupta, the owner of Rau's IAS Study Circle coaching institute, of "knowingly" using the basement for commercial purposes, which was not approved by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi. This was stated in a report by PTI.

This allegation follows a tragic incident on July 27 where three Union Public Services Commission (UPSC) aspirants drowned due to waterlogging in Old Rajinder Nagar.

Given the gravity of these accusations, the CBI requested a special court to allow "custodial interrogation" of Abhishek Gupta and five other accused: Deshpal Singh, Harvinder Singh, Parvinder Singh, Sarabjeet Singh, and Tajinder Singh. All six have been in judicial custody.

Following this, today, Saturday, August 31, Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Nishant Garg granted the CBI’s request, sending the six accused to custody until September 4.

The CBI's investigation revealed that the coaching institute lacked a fire safety certificate for almost a year, despite the issue being raised before the Delhi High Court in 2023. After this, the MCD issued a show cause notice to the owner of Rau's IAS Study Circle, demanding compliance with the master plan 2021.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) received a response from the owner on August 8, 2023, assuring that he had applied for the fire safety certificate. However, the certificate was only issued on July 9, 2024.

Furthermore, the CBI found that the MCD had issued an occupancy certificate for the building on August 9, 2021, which clearly stated that the basement could only be used for specific purposes like a staircase, lift, lobby, toilet, parking, household storage, and a car lift.

According to the CBI, Abhishek Gupta signed a lease agreement on January 5, 2022, renting the building for nine years at Rs 4 lakh per month. The basement was allegedly used as a library and examination hall with seating for 80-90 students.

"In contravention of the approved usage of the basement, the lessor and the lessee knowingly agreed to use the basement for the commercial purpose of running the coaching institute," the CBI informed a special court.

The CBI also noted that Old Rajinder Nagar is prone to flooding even with moderate rain, leading to water entering the premises. Steel gates were installed to block the water.

The postmortem report cited by the CBI indicated that the three UPSC aspirants who drowned on July 27 died from asphyxia caused by drowning.