The Centre on Thursday opposed former IPS officer Kiran Bedi’s plea, which sought impleadment in petitions concerning the Satya Niketan building collapse , and requested time from the Delhi High Court to file its response.
The court also directed the government to consider doubling hostel facilities for students, observing that DU colleges lacked adequate hostel accommodation for outstation students, forcing them and their parents to seek shelter in private PGs. The building was estimated to be 40-50 years old. Subsequently, the owner of the property, Hariram Gupta, 81, was arrested an FIR against Hariram and unidentified people under sections 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 290 (negligent conduct in pulling down, repairing or constructing buildings) and 125 (act endangering the life or personal safety of others) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) was filed at South Campus police station. On September 7, the high court directed the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to conduct an inquiry at the highest executive level, calling the incident unfortunate and stating that it could have been avoided “had the authorities been alive to the statutory duty cast upon them.
Renovation work was under way on the ground floor when the structure collapsed, according to police.
Bedi’s application requested her intervention in the case, which is scheduled for the next hearing on September 25.
