Delhi coaching deaths: Rau’s IAS coaching offers ₹50 lakh compensation to victims’ families, says lawyer

A lawyer of Rau’s IAS Study Circle said the coaching institute will give ₹50 lakh each as compensation to the families of the three students who drowned in its basement in Delhi.

“What we are offering is a ₹50 lakh compensation to each one of the students who has lost his life. Rs. 25 lakhs right away and Rs. 25 lakhs once Abhishek, the CEO of the organisation, comes out and we can meet the financial requirement to pay the remaining Rs. 25 lakhs. I also have committed that the next part will be paid within six months… Different people have different expectations, I am a messenger,” advocate Mohit Saraf told ANI.

The three students drowned in the Rau’s study circle coaching in Delhi’s Old Rajendra Nagar after water filled up the basement. The police have arrested several people in connection with the tragedy, including the CEO of the group, Abhishek Gupta.

The police had also arrested the driver of a car who passed by the Rau coaching at the time of the incident. They said the water displaced by the car entered the basement.

A local court today released him on bail and said the accused was implicated in over-enthusiasm.

After the prosecution informed the court that they had decided to drop harsher charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder against SUV driver Manuj Kathuria, the court granted him bail.

Additional Sessions Judge Rakesh Kumar, however, directed the accused “not to pass any comments regarding the case to print and electronic media in any manner”.

Senior advocate Vikas Pahwa, appearing for the accused, said the prosecution had failed to provide essential scientific data, including the cubic volume of water present on the road at the time of the incident and the amount of water allegedly displaced by his SUV and the tensile strength of the iron door that was supposedly affected by the displaced water.

“Without these crucial measurements, it is impossible to establish a direct causal link between the applicant’s (Kathuria’s) actions and the damage caused to the coaching centre,” he said.