A building collapsed at 1:30 PM on Sunday in Delhi’s Satya Niketan.
The Supreme Court will hear the case today regarding the PG accident in Delhi’s Satya Niketan.
During the hearing on September 8, the Court had said that the matter would not be limited to Delhi and that the condition of dilapidated and illegal buildings across the country would be reviewed.
Earlier, the Delhi High Court had heard the case on September 7. The High Court had said that both the Municipal Corporation of Delhi and Delhi University were responsible for the accident.
The court has sought responses within 10 days from the MCD, the Delhi government, the central government, the NHRC and Delhi University.
After this, on Wednesday, the Chief Minister also directed the MCD to inspect illegal PG hostels. The MCD has begun demolishing buildings near the PG building.
These buildings housed girls’ PG accommodations. The girls are vacating the PG and shifting elsewhere.
Seven people were killed when a five-storey PG building collapsed in Satya Niketan on September 6. Five people had been arrested in the case by Wednesday.
The buildings near the one that collapsed on September 6 are being demolished.
PG Owner, Operator and Labour Contractor Arrested
Delhi Police arrested a man named Sudhanshu on Wednesday in connection with the PG accident. He was running a PG under the name Hostel Dayz in the building. His partner, Shubham Tyagi, is absconding. The two had taken the building on lease in August 2025.
Earlier, the building owner Hariram Bansal, his wife Urmila, their son Mahesh and labour contractor Sanoj had been arrested. On Monday night, Hariram Bansal, his wife Urmila and their son Mahesh were produced before the Patiala House Court.
Accused Mahesh, PG operator Sudhanshu, and labor contractor Sanoj will be produced in court today.
Justice Bhavya Kharal sent Hariram and Urmila to 14 days of judicial custody, while Mahesh was remanded to two days of police custody. During the police remand, Mahesh said that repairs were being carried out to fix the problem of water accumulation and dampness in the basement following a complaint by the company operating the PG.
After the water was drained from the basement, a power trowel machine was also being operated during the construction work. Police suspect that vibrations generated by the machine, combined with the already weakened structure, caused the building to collapse.
Hariram Bansal is a retired Air Force sergeant.
Contractor said-had hired him for renovation 10 days earlier
During questioning, the contractor, Sanoj, said that Mahesh Gupta had hired him for renovation 10 days earlier. He was paid Rs 2,800 per day. The work involved raising the basement to the level of the ground floor, for which around three truckloads of debris had been filled into the basement.
On the ground floor, a wall in the shop area was creating an obstruction. On the day of the accident, the wall was removed to make space. As soon as the wall was removed, the weakened building could not bear the load and collapsed.
Students Vacating PGs in Satya Niketan
The Satya Niketan area was established between 1965 and 1970 to rehabilitate slum dwellers. The number of students here increased after the South Campus began operating in the 1970s.
Five MCD South Zone Officials Suspended
Following the Satya Niketan incident, the MCD suspended South Zone Deputy Commissioner Rakesh Kumar on Monday. Four engineering officials were also suspended along with him until the departmental proceedings are completed.
After this, IAS officer Shashwat Saurabh was given additional charge of the MCD’s South Zone. Saurabh, an IAS officer of the 2016-batch AGMUT cadre, is currently the Deputy Commissioner of the South West Zone.
