The Delhi High Court on Tuesday declined a plea to prevent the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) from filing a charge sheet related to the tragic drowning of three civil services aspirants at a coaching centre in Old Rajinder Nagar. The court affirmed that it does not possess the authority to either compel the filing of a charge sheet or to prevent one.
Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma dismissed the plea submitted by J Dalvin Suresh, who lost his son in the flooding incident on July 27. Suresh had argued that the investigating officer was not adhering to prior court directives regarding the investigation. Despite these claims, the court maintained that controlling the charge sheet process was beyond its legal powers.
“The prayer being made by the petitioner is beyond the law and hence the application is dismissed. There is no jurisdiction with the court to stay the filing of the charge sheet,” Justice Sharma stated.
The court has also issued a notice to the CBI concerning Suresh’s main petition, which challenges a September 20 trial court order that rejected his request to change the investigating officer. The CBI has been instructed to respond, with the case set for further hearing on November 27.
The petition additionally calls for a thorough investigation by a CBI official of at least Inspector General rank, trial court monitoring of the probe, and questioning and actions against officials from the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, Delhi Fire Services, and Delhi Police.
The incident, which led to the deaths of Shreya Yadav from Uttar Pradesh, Tanya Soni from Telangana, and Nevin Dalvin from Kerala, occurred when the basement of Rau’s IAS Study Circle was inundated during heavy rainfall. The case was transferred from Delhi Police to the CBI on August 2, following concerns about the integrity of the local investigation.
