The Supreme Court on Monday took suo motu action to investigate the existing safety regulations for buildings and coaching institutes in Delhi, reported Bar and Bench.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan remarked that coaching institutes were not complying with safety norms and had become “death chambers”.
This came after three Union Public Service Commission aspirants drowned in the basement of Rau’s IAS Study Circle, a private coaching centre in the capital’s Old Rajinder Nagar area, on July 27.
The basement had flooded after a nearby drainage pipeline burst.
“We are issuing suo motu notice to NCT of Delhi and Union of India to come out with guidelines of the safety norms that have been taken,” the bench verbally remarked. “These places have become death chambers. You are taking away the lives of young ones coming from different parts of the country and their lives are being taken away.”
The court suggested that coaching centres conduct classes online until they can ensure “full compliance” with the safety norms outlined in the Master Plan of Delhi, 2021, and the Unified Building Bye-Laws of Delhi, 2016.
“All coaching institutes and centres of Delhi are required to comply with the fire and safety norms under the Master Plan of Delhi, 2021, read with Unified Building Bye-Laws of Delhi, 2016,” the court said. “Coaching institutes can operate online unless there is full compliance of the safety norms and basic norms for dignified life of young ones studying there. Such norms must include proper ventilation, safety passages, air and light.”
The court asked the Union and Delhi governments to explain how they have been ensuring compliance with the capital’s existing building safety regulations. It said that the deaths of the three Union Public Service Commission aspirants are “eye openers for one and all”.
The court was hearing an appeal by the Coaching Federation of India, which challenged the Delhi High Court’s directives in connection with the proliferation of coaching institutes in the capital’s Mukherjee Nagar area. The High Court had also noted their failure to comply with fire and safety regulations.
The High Court also tasked the Central Bureau of Investigation to investigate the deaths of the three students at Rau’s IAS Study Circle. It directed that a committee be established to review the status of administrative, financial and physical infrastructure in Delhi.
The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed the Coaching Federation of India’s appeal and imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on the organisation.