On the 31st of July, the Delhi High Court slammed the Aam Aadmi Party government’s “freebie culture”, following the recent basement flooding in the city’s Rajindra Nagar district, resulting in the death of three civil service aspirants on the 27th of July.
The Delhi High Court ordered the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) commissioner, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), and the investigating officer to appear in court on 2nd August.
Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela stated the Delhi government has little money to upgrade the infrastructure, especially the city’s drainage system, in light of Delhi’s increasing population, due to the “freebie culture”.
“You are permitting multi-storey buildings but there is no proper drain. Your civic authorities are bankrupt. If you don’t have money to pay salaries, how will you upgrade infrastructure? You want freebie culture. You’re not collecting any money, so you’re not spending any money,” ACJ Manmohan said.
The ACJ further criticised the AAP government and AAP-controlled MCD saying the MCD’s Standing Committee would approve any project above Rs 5 crore, however, there is no such committee.
“Yesterday, one plan they said has to go to Cabinet. What’s the next date of the cabinet meeting, nobody knows! You have to decide on this freebie culture. There is a population of 3.3 crore people in this city whereas it was planned for 6-7 lakh people. How do you plan to accommodate so many people without upgrading infra?” the ACJ remarked.
The Court additionally pointed out that the quality of the investigation thus far had been inadequate, and that no culpability had been assigned to any Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) officer as of yet.
“Who is the investigating officer? Some sort of strange investigation going on. Unauthorized construction happens in collusion with the Police,” the court said.
The Court then named Delhi Police as a respondent in the PIL, demanding an action taken report on the investigation thus far. The HC bench emphasised the importance of assigning responsibility and stated that if this were not done, a central agency would be tasked.
Notably, the High Court bench was hearing a public interest litigation filed by an organisation named Kutumb seeking the formation of a High-Level Committee to investigate The three aspirants who died in a flooded basement at Rau’s IAS coaching centre in Delhi’s Old Rajendra Nagar. PIL requests the formation of a district-level committee in each district of the national capital to examine and identify illegal commercial construction in their respective districts.
Furthermore, the PIL seeks that the authorities submit an action-taken report in accordance with the directives issued by the coordinate bench concerning the fire incident at a coaching centre in Mukherjee Nagar. The petition also demands the formation of a commission to investigate and prepare reports on coaching institutes that operate illegally and do not adhere to standard operating procedures.
On 27th July 2024, three aspiring civil servants— Shreya Yadav from Uttar Pradesh, Tanya Soni from Telangana, and Navin Dalwin from Kerala—lost their lives after heavy rain in Delhi caused the basement of a building that housed a tutoring centre to flood. The tragic incident transpired at the library basement of Rau’s IAS Study Circle in the Old Rajinder Nagar area.
