Court rejects bail for SUV driver and co-owners in Delhi coaching centre deaths case

A Delhi court on Wednesday denied bail to an SUV driver and four basement co-owners arrested for the deaths of three UPSC aspirants who drowned in a coaching center. Judicial magistrate Vinod Kumar of Tis Hazari Court rejected the bail pleas of driver Manuj Kathuria and basement owners Tejinder Singh, Parvinder Singh, Harvinder Singh, and Sarabjeet Singh.

"All the bail applications are dismissed," said Judge Kumar, as reported by news agency PTI. Kathuria faces accusations of driving his Force Gurkha car through a rain-flooded street, causing water levels to rise and breach the gates of a three-storey building, inundating the basement. The four co-owners are charged with abetting the offenses. All five were arrested on Monday.

The court has also requested a reply from the IO regarding a plea to declare Kathuria's arrest illegal, and has scheduled the next hearing for August 7.


During the proceedings, the judge criticized the actions of the authorities, stating, "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?"

Earlier in the day, the Delhi High Court also criticized the authorities over the deaths of the civil service aspirants. The high court attributed such tragedies to a "freebies culture" leading to inadequate tax collection and insufficient infrastructure.

The court commented on the ongoing investigation, pointing out that police actions were taken against a passerby while noting the absence of any actions taken against Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) officials.

The high court suggested the possibility of involving a central agency to investigate the incident. It ordered the MCD commissioner, the concerned deputy commissioner of police, and the case's investigating officer to appear before it on Friday.

The hearing responded to a plea seeking the formation of a high-level committee to investigate the deaths. The three UPSC aspirants lost their lives in the basement of a flooded coaching center in Old Rajinder Nagar on the evening of July 27.