New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Monday deferred till October 15 the hearing of a case initiated by it over a fire incident at a coaching centre in Mukherjee Nagar last year, after it was told that the Supreme Court has taken up the issue of safety of students in such institutes.
A bench headed by Justice Yashwant Varma was informed that while dismissing an appeal against one of its orders, the top court took cognizance of the recent deaths of three IAS aspirants in the flooded basement of an institute in Old Rajinder Nagar and issued notice to the Centre and the Delhi government.
“For awaiting further directions in the proceedings, we adjourn the matter. List on October 15,” the bench, also comprising Justice Ravinder Dudeja, said.
While saying that it has to “stand over the matter”, the court noted that a PIL was also pending before the Acting Chief Justice’s bench in relation to the July 27 Old Rajinder Nagar incident.
On Friday, Acting Chief Justice Manmohan’s bench had transferred the probe into the deaths of the UPSC aspirants from Delhi Police to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) “to ensure the public has no doubt over the investigation”.
Earlier today, the Supreme Court observed that coaching centres have become “death chambers” and are playing with the lives of students. It also asked the Centre and the Delhi government to show as to what safety norms have been prescribed so far for coaching centres and what effective mechanism has been evolved to ensure compliance.
The apex court was hearing an appeal by the association of coaching centres challenging a December 2023 order by Justice Varma’s bench, which had directed the city’s fire services and the civic body to inspect all coaching centres here to ascertain if they were complying with the fire safety norms.
The high court had registered the instant case last year on its own after taking cognizance of a fire that broke out at a coaching centre in Mukherjee Nagar in June. Several students could be seen climbing down the building using ropes.
According to the police, around 250 students were attending classes at Bhandari House when the fire broke out.
Last year, it had said “fire safety is a must” and all coaching centres must either comply with the statutory requirements under the Delhi Master Plan, 2021 and other applicable regulations or face closure. It also directed the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to forthwith shut down coaching centres operating in violation of the fire safety norms.
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