Coaching centers 'death chambers': SC issues notice to Delhi government, Centre

The Supreme Court, on August 5, termed coaching centers "death chambers" and described the incident of the deaths of three IAS aspirants as an "eye-opener", observing that "the coaching centres are playing with the lives of students." 

The court imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on the petitioner, the Coaching Center Federation after he challenged the Delhi High Court order for shutting down coaching centres that lacked a fire No Objection Certificate (NOC).

Furthermore, it also issued notices to the Central government and the Chief Secretary of Delhi, asking whether safety regulations are being implemented in coaching centres.

The Supreme Court also sought Attorney General's assistance in the matter and further mentioned that if coaching centres do not meet safety norms, those should be moved to an online mode.

The court was hearing an appeal filed by the Coaching Federation of India which aimed to challenge the directions of the Delhi High Court on the proliferation of coaching institutes in Delhi's Mukherjee Nagar for failure to comply with fire and safety norms.

The court rejected the appeal and also imposed costs of Rs 1 lakh on the Coaching Federation of India.

Issuing a notice to the Delhi government and the Centre over the incident, a bench headed by Justice Surya Kant said, "We are not sure as to what effective measure has been taken so far by NCT of Delhi or the Union of India. The recent unfortunate incidents taking away the lives of some of the young ones who joined coaching centres for their career pursuits are eye-openers for one and all."

"We, therefore, deem it appropriate to expand the scope of these proceedings as suo motu to issue notice to Union of India and NCT of Delhi to show cause as to what safety norms have been prescribed so far and, if so, what is the effective mechanism introduced for their compliance," the judge said.