Court grants bail to SUV driver Manuj Kathuria in Delhi UPSC aspirants’ deaths case

Bail was granted to Manuj Kathuria, the SUV driver who was detained on suspicion of the deaths of three civil service candidates in a Delhi coaching centre, on Thursday.

Three students drowned in the basement of Rau's IAS Study Circle in Old Rajinder Nagar, and on July 29th, Kathuria was taken into custody in connection with the incident. On the grounds of guilty homicide, he was placed under 14 days of judicial custody.

Police claimed that Kathuria had driven his Force Gurkha through the flooded street, allowing the water to rise to the point where it broke through the gates of the three-story building and flooded the basement.

A magistrate's court denied Kathuria bail on Wednesday, stating that the video footage "prima facie" showed that he was warned by onlookers not to drive quickly on the flooded road but disregarded their warnings.
 
Kathuria filed a motion in Sessions Court at Tis Hazari today to overturn the Magistrate Court's decision to deny him bail.
 
Kathuria argued in his bail request that he was innocent and that the police lacked evidence to back up any accusations made against him. In his petition, he claimed that "a single individual is being held responsible for the state's widespread infrastructure breakdown."

The police acknowledged in court during the hearing that they lacked sufficient proof to file charges against Kathuria under Section 105 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (culpable homicide). After that, the police decided not to press charges against him.