Was there really any cheating going on? CBI has made a revelation that will shock you too!

IAS Coaching Centre Tragedy: The CBI, which is investigating the coaching centre accident in Delhi, has said that the owner of ‘Rau IAS Study Circle’ was deliberately using the basement for commercial purposes. The owner deliberately violated the rules made by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD). Three students preparing for UPSC died in this coaching centre located in Old Rajendra Nagar on the evening of 27 July after drowning in the water filled in the basement.

The CBI took over the coaching centre incident case from the Delhi Police on August 2 and began investigating the case. On Saturday (August 31), the investigating agency sought permission from the Special Court to question Abhishek Gupta, owner of Rau IAS Study Circle, and other accused in custody, citing the seriousness of the allegations. The other accused include Deshpal Singh, Harvinder Singh, Parvinder Singh, Sarabjit Singh and Tajinder Singh, who are currently in judicial custody.

Basement was deliberately used for library: CBI

Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Nishant Garg sent all the accused to CBI custody till September 4. The CBI investigation has revealed that the MCD had issued an occupancy certificate on August 9, 2021. This meant that the basement could be used. It was clearly written in it that the basement would be used only for parking, storage and other non-commercial things.

Even after this, Abhishek Gupta entered into a lease agreement for nine years on January 5, 2022, through which it was converted into a library and examination hall. In violation of the rules, the rent for this was also fixed at Rs 4 lakh per month. The CBI told the court, “In violation of the rules made regarding the use of the basement, the lessor and the person who got the lease deliberately agreed to the commercial use of the basement to run a coaching center.”

The coaching center was running without a fire safety certificate

According to PTI, in the documents submitted in the court, the investigating agency has revealed that in 2023, the Delhi High Court had expressed concern over the safety conditions at the coaching centre. Even after this, Rau IAS Study Circle continued to function without a fire safety certificate for almost a year.

Last year, after the high court highlighted that several local coaching centres did not have mandatory fire safety certificates, the MCD issued a show-cause notice to the owner of Rau IAS Study Circle, asking the centre to comply with Master Plan-2021. The owner responded on August 8, 2023, assuring the MCD that he had applied for the certificate, which was issued on July 9, 2024.

Also read: ‘Coaching centers have become death chambers’, Supreme Court strict in the matter of death of students, notice to center and state too