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Informist, Friday, Aug 2, 2024

 

--Delhi HC transfers probe of civil services aspirants' deaths to CBI 

--CONTEXT:Pleas seek probe into deaths at civil svcs coaching centre

--HC: Delhi needs more robust financial and administrative infra 

--HC: Delhi civic bodies don't have funds to carry out infra work 

 

NEW DELHI – The Delhi High Court today transferred the investigation into the deaths of three civil service aspirants in the city's Old Rajinder Nagar area last week to the Central Bureau of Investigation. The court cited the seriousness of the incident and the potential role of corruption by public servants as reason to transfer the probe.

 

A bench led by Acting Chief Justice Manmohan directed the Central Vigilance Commission to nominate a senior officer to oversee the CBI probe and ensure that the investigation is completed in a time-bound manner.

 

The court's order came after it noted that Municipal Corp of Delhi files relating to the case had not been seized and none of the civic body officials had been questioned.

 

The bench, which also comprised Justice Tushar Rao Gadela, asked the city's municipal commissioner to ensure that drains are functional, to systematically expand their capacity if need be, and remove encroachments and illegal constructions, including those on storm water drains.

 

"There is a fundamental problem in the city of Delhi, that physical, financial, and administrative infrastructure are all outdated and not in accordance with the requirements of the present day," the court said. "Physical infrastructure in Delhi was laid nearly 75 years ago. The infrastructure is not only inadequate, but poorly maintained as well." With a population now in excess of 30 mln, Delhi needs more robust financial and administrative infrastructure, it added.

 

The bench said that thanks to various subsidies, migration into Delhi was only increasing, and expressed concern about the financial health of the corporation. "MCD (Municipal Corp of Delhi) failed to pay salaries to its employees for months, and it was done only after the threat of contempt by the court," it noted.

 

The court said civic agencies are left with almost no funds to carry out major infrastructure projects, and recent tragedies in the city have shown that its orders were simply treated as “water over a duck’s back”.

 

Further, the court said, the multiple authorities in Delhi were passing the buck on the city's problems. No contract of more than 50 mln rupees can be awarded by the corporation as no standing committee is in place, and even for the government of Delhi to get a new project sanctioned is not easy because no Cabinet meeting has been held for months. "No wonder Delhi is going from one crisis to another," Justice Manmohan remarked. "One day there is a drought and the next day there is a flood."

The acting chief justice said it was time for a fresh look at the national capital's administrative, financial, and physical infrastructure. Accordingly, the court ordered the constitution of a committee headed by Delhi's chief secretary to look into these issues and submit its report in eight weeks. The committee will include the vice-chairman of the Delhi Development Authority, the city's police commissioner, and the municipal commissioner.

 

The court was hearing multiple petitions seeking the setting up of a high-level committee to probe the deaths of three civil service aspirants. The students died in a flooded basement at a coaching centre in Delhi on Saturday.

 

The petitioners sought committees to pinpoint illegal commercial buildings in each district of Delhi. They also asked for a probe panel to compile a report on illegal coaching institutes in the capital.

 

"The mindset of the administrators of Delhi must change," the court said. "If the mindset is that everything is for free... everything cannot be a freebie... If you are going on a freebie culture, you won't know how to change the structure."  End

 

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Rajeev Pai

 

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