New Delhi

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), in its supplementary final report arising out of the deaths of three UPSC aspirants in the flooded basement of Rau's IAS Study Circle at Old Rajinder Nagar, has concluded that its further investigation uncovered dereliction of duty and negligence on the part of two additional Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) officials, while finding no evidence of criminal lapse against two senior officers.

The agency has, however, stated that these two officials are not being chargesheeted due to lack of sanction for prosecution.

According to the supplementary final report filed before the Rouse Avenue Court, the CBI carried out further investigation pursuant to a court direction on a protest petition filed by the father of one of the deceased students to examine whether additional MCD officials had enabled the continued illegal use of the basement by the coaching institute.

The CBI found that the basement at Plot No. BP-11, Bazar Marg, Old Rajinder Nagar had been sanctioned only for household storage, parking, staircases, lift lobby and allied purposes.

It concluded that no conversion charges had ever been paid for changing the basement's use for educational or coaching purposes, and that operating a coaching centre from the basement required a duly approved change of land use, requisite fire clearances and payment of prescribed charges, none of which had been obtained.

The agency further concluded that MCD officials had knowledge that the basement was being used as an examination hall and coaching facility, but official records continued to portray it as storage.

It referred to inspection reports, photographs, lease deeds and other records which, according to the investigation, showed that the actual use of the basement was contrary to the sanctioned building plan.

One of the principal findings of the report concerns the Assistant Engineer (Building) Rajeev Kumar Jain.

The CBI alleged that, as custodian of the show-cause notice file and MCD's representative during personal hearings, he failed to properly scrutinise documents submitted by the owner and occupier, verify the actual use of the premises or report the misuse of the basement. According to the agency, this amounted to negligence and dereliction of duty.

The investigation also found negligence on the part of then Executive Engineer Kumar Mahendra, who headed the Building Department in the Karol Bagh Zone.

The CBI said he failed to ascertain the misuse of the basement despite documents, including lease deeds, specifically indicating that it was being leased for coaching activities, although the sanctioned use remained household storage and parking. The agency concluded that he failed to properly evaluate the records placed before him.

The report further states that, besides the already chargesheeted Junior Engineer Arnav Kumar Dutta, the continued unauthorised use of the basement was facilitated by negligence and dereliction of duty on the part of Rajeev Kumar Jain and Kumar Mahendra in discharge of their official functions.

However, the CBI recorded that sanction for prosecution against these officials was not granted and, therefore, they were not chargesheeted in the supplementary final report.

At the same time, the CBI exonerated two senior MCD officers. It found that the Superintending Engineer Ajay Nagpal had received the file only in the normal course of processing, was neither the inspecting officer nor custodian of the file, and had not been informed by subordinate officers that the basement was being used as an examination hall.

Similarly, the agency found no evidence of negligence or dereliction of duty against then Deputy Commissioner Kumar Abhishek, observing that he acted on reports submitted by subordinate officials and no specific misuse of the basement had been brought to his notice.

READ MORE: Assam: Badruddin Ajmal lends his support to anti-drug campaign

The supplementary report follows earlier CBI charge sheets in the case, which had already arraigned Rau's IAS Study Circle partner Abhishek Gupta, several institute officials and certain public servants, including Junior Engineer Arnav Kumar Dutta and Delhi Fire Service officials, in connection with the July 27, 2024 tragedy in which three civil services aspirants drowned after floodwaters inundated the coaching centre's basement.