SC takes suo moto cognisance of UPSC aspirants’ deaths

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court of India took suo moto cognisance of the matter related to the deaths of three civil service aspirants in the basement of Rau’s IAS Study Circle on August 5. The students were trapped in the basement when water from the submerged road gushed inside, drowning three of them.

The Supreme Court bench, comprising of Justice Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan, noted, “We are not sure as to what effective measures have been taken so far by the NCT of Delhi or the Union of India. The recent unfortunate incidents taking away lives of some of the young ones who joined coaching centres for their career pursuits are an eye opener for one and all.”

The apex court in the country issued notices to both the Delhi government and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India. The court has asked the authorities to put on record the existing safety mechanism to prevent any such casualties and ensure that the lives of the students are not in danger in the coaching centres running in Delhi.

The Supreme Court was also hearing a petition from the Coaching Federation of India against the order of the Delhi High Court. The petition was filed against the directive given to the state government and Municipal Corporation of Delhi to shut down institutes that have been running without the fire department’s No-Objection Certificate (NOC).