Delhi HC grants interim bail to 4 co-owners of a basement and asks them to deposit Rs 5 crore

New Delhi [India]September 13 (ANI): The Delhi High Court on Friday granted interim bail to four co-owners of a basement linked to the tragic deaths of three IAS aspirants in Old Rajinder Nagar.

The bail is valid until January 30, 2025, the court said.

The bench of Justice DK Sharma also asked the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi to constitute a committee, working under the supervision of a retired Supreme Court judge, to ensure that no tutoring centres are operated in basements without permission across Delhi.

Delivering the verdict, Justice DK Sharma observed that the conduct of the four co-owners was “unforgivable” and showed their “greed”. In addition, the court directed the four co-owners of the basement to deposit Rs 5 crore with the Red Cross.

On Thursday, the Delhi High Court asked the CBI to submit a status report detailing the main causes of the flooding in the region and the rainfall data for that day.

Recently, the court refused to release the four co-owners on bail, stating that their liability arose from the illegal use of the basement as a training center.

In their bail application before the Delhi High Court, they said that the court had failed to take into account the fact that the plaintiffs were not named in the FIR. Moreover, the application stressed that the co-owners had voluntarily come forward to the police and cooperated with the investigation, which proved their credibility even though they were not called in by the investigating officer.

In their plea, they further claim that the court overlooked the principle that vicarious liability does not apply in criminal law. Their plea states that strict criminal liability only applies to the person who directly commits the crime, which they argue does not apply to the current applicants.

In their earlier bail application, the defendants argued that the tragic incident was caused by heavy rain, which they described as an “act of God.” They also partially blamed the city government for the area's defective sewage system.

In court, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is handling the case, said the basement was intended solely for storage and not for educational purposes. The agency claims that the accused were aware of the risks involved in running a training centre in the space.

The court also considered the testimony of a resident of Karol Bagh, who had earlier raised concerns about Rau's IAS running a classroom in the basement without permission, and had warned of a possible serious accident a month before the incident.

The court found that the accused were aware that the illegal use of the basement posed a threat to human life and that this illegal use was directly related to the tragic event. (ANI)