Delhi HC slams freebies culture, raps MCD over coaching centre deaths

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday came down heavily on the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led government and Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) over the death of three UPSC aspirants at a coaching centre in the national capital and saying such tragedies are bound to happen when there is no collection of taxes due to a “freebies culture”. The court said multi-storey buildings were being allowed to operate but there was no proper drainage. Acting Chief Justice of the High Court Manmohan stated that the incident was clearly a case of Criminal Neglect and firmly said that the court would straight pass the orders if the administration didn’t take responsibility.
Noting the apathy of the civic bodies, the court said it was bankrupt and couldn't even pay salaries to its employees.The court also sought to know why no action had been taken against senior MCD staffers. "It seems your officers believe there is no need to comply with orders..." was the sharp remark.So far only junior city engineers have been fired. Senior staff have been suspended. "You have terminated junior officers... but what about senior officers who should have supervised (their work)? Has anyone from MCD gone to jail?" the court asked, "At some time senior officers must visit (sites, but) they are not leaving their air-conditioned offices.""You have to decide on this freebie culture. There is a population of 3.3 crore people, whereas the city was planned for six or seven lakh. How do you plan to accommodate so many without upgrading infrastructure?" the court asked.