New Delhi: Taking a dim view of a plea claiming that people may still be buried under the debris of the building that collapsed in Satya Niketan on Sept 6, Delhi High Court Monday refused to urgently list the matter, which also raised concerns over Municipal Corporation of Delhi’s decision to demolish an adjoining building after terming it “dangerous”.“What’s the source of information that there are persons below the debris? How do you know? They must have conducted some type of technical audit before deciding to demolish the adjoining building. It’s all your guesswork that there might be some people. You should have some basis of making such submissions,” a bench of Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia asked the lawyer who pressed for an urgent hearing.The advocate who mentioned the matter claimed that the authorities proceeded with the demolition without removing the debris from the hostel’s basement and some people may still be trapped.Stating that the plea would be listed in its turn, the bench said, “What’s so urgent? You should not file the petition just in air. What is the technical information available to you?”Last week, the high court had ordered a high-level MCD inquiry into the incident that left seven people dead, and made it clear that govt cannot evade responsibility. HC said that the incident was not only unfortunate but also evoked deep concern about inadequate housing facilities, including hostels run by Delhi University or Delhi govt, safety and security of students and not-so-adequate measures employed by the corporation and other authorities to regulate such PG facilities across the city.
