Delhi court reserves order on bail pleas of SUV driver and basement co-owners

New Delhi: A court here Tuesday reserved its order on the bail plea of an SUV driver and four owners of the coaching centre basement in the Old Rajinder Nagar area which was flooded with rainwater and led to the death of three civil services aspirants.

Judicial Magistrate Vinod Kumar reserved the order on the bail plea of the driver Manuj Kathuria and the basement owners Tejinder Singh, Parvinder Singh, Harvinder Singh, and Sarabjeet Singh.

“Order reserved for Wednesday at 4 PM,” the court said.

Kathuria has been accused of driving his Force Gurkha car through the street that was flooded by rainwater, causing the water to swell and breach the gates of the three-storey building and inundate the basement.

Rakesh Malhotra, Kathuria’s advocate sought bail, saying his client did not know what would happen, nor did he have the intention to cause the incident.

“It is very difficult to drive in a waterlogged area … What is the cause of the unfortunate incident? One, running a library in the place marked as something else... and two, the failure of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, Delhi Jal Board etc. to prevent waterlogging,” the advocate said.

He said the authorities were very much aware of what was happening in the basement and cited in support an application made to the MCD by a resident against the illegal running of the library in the basement.

“If you expect that I knock on every door and ask whether I take my car forward, then I am accused, not otherwise. How did I engage, abet or facilitate the offence? Please see the 30-minute footage and check the vehicular movement before and after me,” he said. “I am accused of driving at high speed. I haven’t been booked under the Motor Vehicles Act MV Act or for (the penal provision of) rash and negligent driving, then how can I be booked for these offences?” the advocate added.

He argued that the basic ingredients for the alleged offence of committing culpable homicide not amounting to murder were not made.

“Intent and knowledge are necessary. If they expect me to drive slowly, they also expect me to believe that I drove the vehicle fast, knowing that it would cause velocity, and high thrust, following which the water would hit the iron gates …,” the advocate said. He said that in

the last few years, coaching centres and PG accommodation had mushroomed in the area, causing traffic woes.

“The ultimate culprits are the institute and civic authorities...I am 50 years old, have ulcerative colitis, and am prone to infection. I am in the category of sick,” the advocate said urging the court to grant bail.

Additional Public Prosecutor Atul Srivastava opposed the bail plea, saying Kathuria

was not guilty of “contributory negligence,” but he “aggravated” the incident.