CBI Accuses Rau’s IAS Study Circle Owner of Violating Building Norms; Six Taken into Custody After Deaths of Three UPSC Aspirants

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has accused the owner of Rau’s IAS Study Circle of “knowingly” using the basement for commercial activities, contrary to the approved usage by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD).

On July 27, three UPSC aspirants tragically drowned in the basement library of Rau’s IAS Study Circle in Old Rajinder Nagar, following flooding caused by heavy rains. Six individuals were arrested by Delhi Police after the incident.

Due to the severity of the charges, the CBI, which took over the investigation from the Delhi Police on August 2, has requested permission from the special court for the “custodial interrogation” of Abhishek Gupta, the owner of Rau’s IAS Study Circle, and five others, including Deshpal Singh, Harvinder Singh, Parvinder Singh, Sarabjeet Singh, and Tajinder Singh, who are all currently in judicial custody.

On Saturday, Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Nishant Garg ordered that all six accused be placed in CBI custody until September 4. The CBI informed the court that the coaching institute had been operating without a fire safety certificate for almost a year, despite concerns raised by the Delhi High Court in 2023.

Last year, the Delhi High Court noted that many local coaching institutes were lacking mandatory fire safety certificates, prompting the MCD to issue a show-cause notice to the owner of Rau’s IAS Study Circle to comply with Masterplan-2021.

In response, the owner assured the MCD on August 8, 2023, that he had applied for the certificate, which was eventually issued on July 9, 2024. The investigation also revealed that the MCD had granted an occupancy certificate for the building on August 9, 2021, specifying that the basement was only to be used for parking, storage, and other non-commercial purposes.

Despite these regulations, the owner, Abhishek Gupta, signed a nine-year lease agreement on January 5, 2022, paying a monthly rent of ₹4 lakh and converting the basement into a library and exam hall, violating the approved usage.

The CBI informed the special court that “in contravention of the approved usage of the basement, the lessor and lessee knowingly agreed to use the basement for the commercial purpose of running the coaching institute.”

The CBI also noted that Old Rajinder Nagar, where the institute is located, often experiences flooding even during moderate rain, leading to water entering the premises.

The investigation revealed that the three UPSC aspirants who drowned—Shreya Yadav, Tanya Soni, and Nevin Dalvin—died due to asphyxia caused by drowning, as confirmed by the postmortem report. The coaching institute had been using all floors, including the basement, for its operations, in violation of the building’s intended purpose.