In
a scathing rebuke on Monday, the Supreme Court referred to coaching centres as
“death chambers” following the incident at Rau’s IAS Study Circle in Delhi’s
Old Rajinder Nagar. The court, taking suo motu cognisance of the incident,
addressed the death of three Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) aspirants
and sought urgent responses from the central government and the Delhi
government.
“These
places [coaching centres] have become death chambers… coaching institutes can
operate online unless there is full compliance of the safety norms and basic
norms for a dignified life… You’re playing with the lives of young ones coming
from different parts of the country,” the Supreme Court observed.
The
bench, consisting of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan, described the
incident as an “eye-opener” for all. “The incident was an eye opener, no
institute should be allowed to operate unless they comply with safety norms,”
said the court.
On
August 2, the Delhi High Court transferred the investigation of the deaths to
the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to ensure transparency and public
trust. The deceased — Shreya Yadav, 25, from Uttar Pradesh; Tanya Soni, 25,
from Telangana; and Nevin Delvin, 24, from Kerala—had come to Delhi with dreams
of clearing the UPSC examinations, only to meet a tragic end.
The
Supreme Court also expressed concern over the effectiveness of safety measures
taken by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and the Ministry of Housing
and Urban Development.
“We
are not sure what effective steps have been taken by MCD and the Ministry of
Housing and Urban Development. The recent unfortunate incident taking away the
lives of some young aspirants in a coaching centre is before us and all. We
deem it appropriate to expand the scope of the present petition and include
Centre and MCD through chief secretary to show cause as to what safety norms
have been prescribed so far. And, if so, what is the effective mechanism
evolved to ensure their compliance,” the court stated.