Court Denies Access to Coaching Center Building After Tragic Incident in New Delhi

New Delhi, August 28: The Rouse Avenue court has denied permission for the Coaching Center to access their building for conducting classes. This decision follows the tragic death of three UPSC aspirants on July 27 in Old Rajender Nagar.

Application Dismissed

Abhishek Gupta, CEO of the Coaching Center, had requested access to the building. However, Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM) Nishant Garg dismissed the application. The court noted that the building was used without a fire safety certificate until July 9, 2024, and questioned how the occupancy certificate was issued in 2021 without the necessary fire safety certificate.

Safety Concerns

The court emphasized that the basement, where the incident occurred, cannot be treated as a separate unit when considering the building’s safety. Therefore, access to the upper floors was also denied. The court suggested that classes could be conducted at another suitable location to protect the interests of the students.

Student Impact

The closure of the RAU’s IAS Study Circle coaching has affected 1,025 students. While 558 students are taking online classes, 551 are using a hybrid mode. The court found it suspicious that 105 out of 121 emails from students inquiring about class resumption were sent on a single day, raising doubts about their authenticity.

Legal Arguments

Senior Advocate Rebecca John argued that the building should be reopened for students to continue their studies. She stated that the CBI could prosecute Gupta but could not prohibit him from entering the building, as sealing it was the job of other civic authorities. The CBI opposed this, stating that the basement was meant for storage and lacked safety measures, which could lead to another incident.

Advocate Abhijeet Anand, representing one of the victims, cited the Supreme Court’s stance that a coaching center cannot operate without safety measures. The court questioned the CBI on whether the building was illegal and if the upper floors had been sealed, to which the CBI responded negatively.