"What is Delhi Police doing? Have they lost it? What are its officials who are monitoring the probe doing? This is a cover-up or what?" the court asked. New Delhi: "What is the Delhi Police doing? Have they lost it?" wondered the Delhi High Court on Wednesday, while castigating the police for a "strange" probe by arresting an SUV driver for his alleged role in the drowning of three civil services aspirants at a coaching centre here. The strong words of the high court, however, did not come to the rescue of jailed SUV driver whose bail plea was dismissed by a magisterial court later in the day. Judicial Magistrate Vinod Kumar rejected the bail plea of five accused, including SUV driver Manuj Kathuria, who was termed a "masti-khor" (fun lover) by the Delhi Police in their vehement opposition to his bail plea. In the high court, a bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela said a "strange probe" was going on with the Delhi Police taking action against a man who drove a car outside the coaching centre in Old Rajinder Nagar here but not acting against the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) officials. "What is the Delhi Police doing? Have they lost it? What are its officials who are monitoring the probe doing? This is a cover-up or what?" the court said. The bench said the police have arrested a bystander or some person who was driving the car over there. It asked whether some official (of MCD) has been held accountable for the incident till now. "We are telling you, once the responsibility is fixed on officials, no such incident will ever happen in future," the bench said. The high court was hearing a plea by an organisation, Kutumb, seeking the constitution of a high-level committee to investigate the deaths of the three civil service aspirants on the evening of July 27. During the hearing, the bench allowed an oral prayer of the petitioner's advocate Rudra Vikram Singh to implead Delhi Police as a party to the petition.

"Where is the police? Who is investigating this matter? They are trying to get hold of any passerby or driver and saying this happened because you drove a car. The police have registered an FIR under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections 105 (culpable homicide), 106(1) (death of any person by doing any rash or negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide), 115(2) (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) and 290 (negligent conduct with respect to pulling down, repairing or constructing buildings).