"Rs 5 Crore To Red Cross": Bail For 4 In Coaching Centre Deaths Case

Four co-owners of a basement in a central Delhi building used as a coaching centre where three civil service aspirants drowned in rainwater have been granted bail by the Delhi High Court. However, the four must deposit Rs 5 crore with the Red Cross for the bail to be applicable to them, the court said.

The unprecedented bail condition seeks to deter people from committing the same or similar offence. The bail will be in effect till January 30, 2025.

The court asked the Delhi Lieutenant Governor to form a committee under the supervision of a retired high court judge to ensure that no coaching centres are run from basements in the national capital.

Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma of the Delhi High Court said the conduct of the co-owners is "unpardonable" and an "act of greed". Justice Sharma said the authorities must designate a place in Delhi where coaching centres can operate.

Three Indian Administrative Service (IAS) aspirants - Shreya Yadav, 25; Tanya Soni, 25, and Nevin Delvin, 24 - died on July 27 after a sudden surge in rainwater flooded the basement of a building in central Delhi's Old Rajinder Nagar, where Rau's IAS Study Circle ran a coaching centre.

The co-owners of the basement -- Parvinder Singh, Tajinder Singh, Harvinder Singh, and Sarbjit Singh -- sought bail on the grounds that they were simply the landlords of the basement, which was rented out to the coaching centre, and so they have no link with the incident.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) opposed the bail application, saying the probe was in an initial stage and the accused should not be given relief until independent witnesses are examined.

The case is being investigated under the new criminal law Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including Section 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), after it was transferred from Delhi Police to the CBI on the high court's order.