The Delhi High Court today, Friday, May 10, ordered the MCD and DDA to immediately close coaching centres that violated fire safety regulations.
A bench led by Justice Yashwant Varma, which had previously ordered a team of attorneys to visit coaching centres in Mukherjee Nagar, also directed the authorities to relocate electrical equipment situated outside their premises that could be dangerous to the public.
The order followed a series of petitions challenging the functioning of coaching institutes in the area, including one that the high court had filed on its own following an incident of fire at one of them in June 2023, reports PTI.
Amicus curiae Gautam Narayan told the court that the inspection, which took place twice in April, revealed that a few coaching institutions that the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) said had been closed were still open under new management or names.
According to Narayan, these premises did not meet fire safety standards, and in one case, an electrical board was discovered mounted at the door, obstructing the path in the event of a fire.
The court chastised the MCD for neglecting to take note of such coaching facilities, despite its earlier directive to close institutes that violate fire safety standards, and ordered it to take immediate action against them.
"Someone is wanting to play games? You are trying to nitpick. The direction was to shut it down. Don't say anything now. You shut it down. The amicus is doing the job which the MCD should be doing. You created this mess. You will shut down all four properties which have been identified," the bench, also comprising Justice Ravinder Dudeja, said.
The bench ordered, “In light of apparent violation of sealing directions issued by us, we direct the MCD/DDA (Delhi Development Authority) to take action forthwith and premises are sealed."
The high court had previously stated that "fire safety is a must" and that all coaching centres must either comply with their statutory requirements under the Delhi Master Plan, 2021, and other applicable legislation or risk closure.
On May 10, the court also clarified that the "character" of a building to identify it as an educational building and the applicability of fire safety norms must be determined by its "use”, and directed the MCD, DDA, and Delhi Fire Service (DFS) to conduct a new survey to identify non-compliant coaching centres within four weeks.
The court concluded on prima facie evaluation that the phrase "used for" in the Unified Building By-Laws is determinative of character as an educational building, and thus, in the case of buildings that may fall into other general categories but are used for school, coaching, and so on, with more than 20 students, the norms of educational buildings will be drawn, it stated.
Last year, the high court filed a case on its own after taking suo motu cognisance of a fire at a coaching centre in Mukherjee Nagar in June, during which kids were spotted rappelling down the building with ropes.
