Coaching Centre Fire: Delhi HC takes suo moto cognisance; seeks response from Authorities

The Delhi High Court on Friday, June 16, took suo moto cognisance of the fire incident that happened at the coaching centre in Delhi's Mukherjee Nagar. The High Court's vacation bench comprising Justice Jasmeet Singh and Justice Vikas Mahajan has issued notice to Delhi fire services, Delhi Police and Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) seeking their responses within two weeks duration.

3 things you need to know: 

• On June 15, a massive fire broke out at a coaching center in Delhi's Mukherjee Nagar causing smoke billowing from one of the coaching centers.
• Dramatic visuals emerged from the coaching center where students, in order to escape, broke the window panes and began jumping off the 1st, 3rd and 4th floors of the coaching center. 
• The fire at the coaching center was doused in 20 minutes and no major casualty was reported. However, some students were injured.

Mukherjee Nagar Fire: Delhi HC takes Suo Motu cognisance

With the Suo Moto cognisance, the Delhi High Court has also asked the authorities to examine the fire certificate and building sanction of all coaching centres in the national capital. The Court further directed the Delhi Fire Services to conduct a fire safety audit in a bid to check whether fire safety certificates were issued or not.  

In an exclusive conversation with Republic Media Network, MCD Director of Press and Information Amit Kumar stated that he was not aware of the Delhi HC's suo moto cognisance and came to know from the media reports, and assured of full assistance.

"The High Court has taken cognisance of the matter and we want to say that whatever the court requires from us, we will do the needful. It was an unfortunate incident that happened yesterday. We will have to look into the lapses and, if there are any, action would definitely be taken in that direction," Amit Kumar told Republic TV.

Advocate Santosh Tripathi, representing the Delhi government's advocate in this matter informed that the Delhi HC has asked the police and the fire department to file a status report on the issue of fire safety and security in the buildings including proper exit points installed as per the building norms.

As per the information received by Delhi police, two students sustained severe injuries as one of them jumped directly from the third floor and fell on an AC compressor.

Victim students share ordeals of horror blaze

The nation on Thursday witnessed some dramatic visuals of students in the Mukherjee Nagar area of Delhi trying to escape a horrific fire at a coaching centre through the window with the help of a rope/wire. The dramatic visuals include scenes of chaos and panic including visuals of students sitting on AC compressors, some seen jumping down, rappelling down using ropes and wires. As many as 125 students were present in the building when the fire broke out. 

One of the injured students, Navneet spoke to Republic and said, "History class was going on and suddenly smoke was seen inside the class, we couldn't breathe and couldn't see anything. Students started running here and there to get out of the building. In order to escape, with our legs and bags and chairs and tables we started breaking the window panes to get out. We saw a fire in the basement, therefore it was difficult to take the stairs. I took the interconnected stairs to another building and came down safely. More than 200 students were in class at that time. We couldn't understand what had happened and in the blink of an eye, smoke was everywhere. Students were coughing and we were unable to breathe. The teacher also escaped to save himself and we don't know where he escaped from. I was taken to Nulife Hospital and was treated and I am well now."

Nishant, a 19-year-old student who was on the second floor of the building, recalled that people started screaming after the fire broke out and everyone panicked. ''While some students started exploring options for escape out of the window, some ran toward the stairs but it was engulfed in flames,'' he said.

An FIR has also been registered in Mukherjee Nagar under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 336 (Act endangering life or personal safety of others), 337 (Causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others), 338 (Causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others), 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 34 after the fire incident. The investigation is still underway.

Disturbing Visuals of the Students Escaping the Fire

(Students jumping off, climbing off ropes to escape fire; Credit: Republic)

(Entrance of coaching center on fire; Credit: Republic)

(Smoke emanating from windows of the building; Credit: Republic)

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This story is written by Sambhav Sharma