Delhi HC declines urgent hearing on PIL seeking hostels in DU colleges

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday declined to grant an urgent hearing on a PIL seeking hostel facilities for students in all colleges affiliated with Delhi University, asking whether such a direction could be issued as an interim measure.

A bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia questioned the need for an urgent hearing and asked the lawyer to file the petition for auto-listing on Wednesday.

The petition was mentioned for listing on Tuesday itself.

The lawyer said the PIL was filed in the wake of the PG building collapse in Satya Niketan near Delhi University's South Campus, in which seven people were killed.

The court said a direction requiring every college to provide hostel facilities could not be issued as an interim measure. It also noted that another PIL on the issue had already been heard and an order passed on Monday.

The lawyer, however, said the earlier PIL had sought different reliefs, including compensation for the families of those killed and injured. He said the present petition sought directions to every Delhi University college to provide hostel facilities for students.

"Can we issue such a direction in the interim? File it. It will be taken up tomorrow," the bench said.

On Monday, the high court ordered a high-level inquiry by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) into the Satya Niketan building collapse and said the government could not evade responsibility.

The court described the incident as "most unfortunate" and said such tragedies result from inadequate measures taken by the MCD and other authorities. It also directed officials to intensify rescue efforts to save lives.

The court said the incident had raised serious concerns over inadequate housing facilities, including hostels run by Delhi University or the government, as well as the safety and security of students and the measures taken by the MCD and other authorities to regulate paying guest facilities.

Meanwhile, building owner Hariram Gupta and his wife were produced before a trial court on Monday and remanded to judicial custody. Their son was sent to two days of police custody.  (with inputs from PTI)