Coaching centre deaths: Delhi HC grants interim bail to four basement co-owners

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Friday granted interim bail till January 30 to four co-owners of the basement of an Old Rajinder Nagar coaching centre where three civil services aspirants drowned in July.

Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma, while pronouncing the verdict on the bail pleas of the four accused, said the relief is subject to the co-owners depositing Rs 5 crore with the Red Cross.

The judge said the conduct of the co-owners is "unpardonable" and an "act of greed". In the order, a request has been made to the Lieutenant Governor to constitute a committee under a retired high court judge to ensure no coaching centre is permitted to run without permission.

The authorities should also carve out a place for coaching centres in the capital, Justice Sharma added.

A detailed copy of the order is awaited.

Three civil service aspirants -- Shreya Yadav (25) from Uttar Pradesh, Tanya Soni (25) from Telangana and Nevin Delvin (24) from Kerala -- died after the basement of the building housing Rau's IAS Study Circle was flooded following heavy rains in central Delhi's Old Rajinder Nagar on July 27.

The co-owners of the basement -- Parvinder Singh, Tajinder Singh, Harvinder Singh and Sarbjit Singh -- sought bail on the grounds that they are merely the landlords of the basement which was let out on rental basis to the coaching centre and, therefore, they had no role whatsoever in the unfortunate event.

The CBI has opposed the bail pleas and said the investigation was an initial stage and the accused should not be given the relief until independent witnesses are examined.

The case, being probed under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including section 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), was transferred from the Delhi Police to the CBI by the high court.