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Rau’s study centre inspected thrice — no official flagged basement violations: Chargesheet on coaching centre deaths
The agency has claimed that the accused concealed that the basement was being misused in anticipation of receiving “undue advantages” from the coaching centre
Three students drowned in the basement of Rau’s Study Circle last year (File)
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and the Delhi Fire Services (DFS) failed to report the unauthorised use of the basement of Rau’s IAS Study Circle at Old Rajinder Nagar as a coaching centre despite conducting multiple inspections of the premises and having photographic evidence of the same, the CBI has said in a 71-page supplementary chargesheet it filed before a court on April 27.
Three UPSC aspirants had drowned at the basement of the Rau’s IAS Study Circle after water had entered the library-cum-study centre during heavy rain on July 27 last year.
The CBI has filed the supplementary chargesheet against three public servants, including a junior engineer of the MCD, as well as an assistant divisional officer (ADO) and a divisional officer (DO) of the DFS.
The agency has claimed that the accused concealed that the basement was being misused in anticipation of receiving “undue advantages” from the coaching centre.
The chargesheet also accused Abhishek Gupta, the CEO of Rau’s IAS Study Circle, of criminal conspiracy, alleging that he appointed consultant Ashok Narang to liaison with DFS and MCD officials to get the fire clearance certificate quickly to ensure the basement could be used as a library-cum-study centre.
It further said that Arnav Kumar Dutta, a junior engineer with the MCD, despite knowing that the basement was being used for commercial activity, deliberately did not report the matter to his seniors even after surveying and inspecting the Rau’s premises on three occasions.
The chargesheet claimed that Dutta did so to benefit the occupiers of the building in running the coaching centre illegally from the basement, thereby performing his duty improperly in anticipation of undue advantage from the coaching centre.
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Regarding the fire safety certificate, the chargesheet mentioned that DFS officials – ADO Uday Vir and DO Vedpal – conducted two inspections of the Rau’s building; first on January 31, 2024 and then on July 1, 2024, just 26 days before the three students drowned in the basement.
During the first inspection in January, they allegedly did not grant the fire safety certificate to the institute for flouting 11 norms. After the second inspection on July 1, the DFS officials claimed in their report that all fire protection systems have been checked and found fully functional. “Between January 31 and July 1 in 2024, Uday Vir of DFS and Narang had (received) 57 phone calls, as the Fire Safety Certificate of Rau’s IAS academy was pending,” the chargesheet said.
According to the chargesheet, CEO Gupta managed to obtain the certificate by getting Narang to pursue the matter with the officers of the fire department.
The chargesheet explicitly mentioned that Gupta – who is currently out of jail on bail – was the beneficiary of the fire safety certificate, as having such a certificate entitled him to smoothly run the institute for commercial purposes, though he was not entitled to do so.
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According to the chargesheet, investigation has also revealed that the entire drainage system in the area was based on the master drainage plan of 1976. The system had not been upgraded since then, even as the population had grown multiple times.
When contacted, a senior MCD official said an internal inquiry is underway. “The matter is sub-judice,” the official added.
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