Supreme Court takes suo motu cognizance of safety norms in coaching centres

NEW DELHI: In the wake of the recent deaths of three UPSC students in Delhi’s Old Rajinder Nagar, the Supreme Court on Monday took suo motu cognisance on the issue related to safety norms in the coaching centres. Three students drowned in the basement housing a coaching centre in Delhi’s Old Rajinder Nagar that flooded following heavy rains in the national capital last week.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan observed that such institutes have become “death chambers” as the top court was hearing the petition filed by the Coaching Federation of India. The court dismissed the appeal filed by the Coaching Federation of India against the Delhi High Court order.

The court took note of the recent incident in the Old Rajinder Nagar in Delhi and orally said, “These places (coaching centres) have become death chambers. You are taking away the lives of young ones coming from different parts of the country”.

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The court said that recent unfortunate incidents taking the lives of some of the young aspirants who joined coaching centres for their career pursuits are eye-openers for all. The court further suggested that such institutes shall operate through online classes until they fully comply with the fire and safety norms under the Master Plan of Delhi, 2021, read with Unified Building Bye-Laws of Delhi, 2016.

The top court also recommended that norms shall include proper ventilation, safety passages, air and light. The top court asked the Centre. through the Ministry of Urban Affairs and the Delhi government, to show cause as to what safety norms have been prescribed so far and, if so, what is the effective mechanism introduced for their compliance. The court issued a notice to the Central government and the Delhi government on the safety norms related to running coaching institutes.

In the meantime, the court rejected the Coaching Federation of India plea challenging the directions of the Delhi High Court over failure to comply with the safety norms in Delhi’s Mukherjee Nagar. The court also slapped Rs 1 lakh cost on the petitioner and directed it to deposit with the Supreme Court Bar Association and Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association. (ANI)