The Supreme Court will hear on Friday the matter involving the collapse of a five-storeyed building being used as a boys' paying guest accommodation in Delhi's Satya Niketan, which left seven persons dead.

A bench of Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Justice R Mahadevan listed the matter after Senior Advocate Ajit Kumar Sinha, who is the Amicus Curiae in the case concerning rampant violations of building bye-laws and unauthorised conversion of residential premises into commercial establishments across the country, sought an early hearing.

Sinha has filed a status report placing the September 6 incident before the Supreme Court. He has sought further directions from the Court, including a time-bound inspection and safety audit of PG accommodations, private hostels and similar student accommodation establishments in and around colleges and universities across Delhi.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta highlighted that the Delhi High Court has already taken up a PIL over the incident and passed various directions.

Yesterday, the Delhi High Court in a PIL filed following the Satya Niketan collapse directed the MCD to inspect, within one week, all PG hostels under its jurisdiction and report whether the buildings housing them had been constructed with requisite permissions and whether there had been violations of those permissions or building bye-laws. It also directed the MCD to state whether statutory or executive regulations exist for regulating PG hostels in Delhi.

"The matter has been taken in right earnest", Mehta submitted, highlighting that the erring officials have been suspended.

However, Justice Amanullah pointed out that the issues in the PIL before the HC overlap with the ongoing matter in SC regarding building violations, and indicated that the court may transfer the PIL before HC to itself.

"This has been taken in right earnest but it is overlapping. We will take it day after tomorrow and then probably we may make the transfer here.We already have something in mind. It will have to be pan India basis", Justice Amanullah said.

The building, situated at Property No. P-14, Satya Niketan, South-West Delhi, collapsed at around 1.30 pm on September 6. According to the status report filed by the Amicus, the property measured approximately 55 square yards and comprised a basement and four floors above the ground floor. It was being used as a boys' PG accommodation under the name "Hostel Daze". Seven persons died and at least 12 persons were rescued and taken to hospitals, including the AIIMS Trauma Centre and Safdarjung Hospital.

The precise cause of the collapse is still under investigation. The preliminary material before the amicus indicates that construction-related work was being carried out in or around the basement and that there were reports of waterlogging in the basement immediately before the incident. An FIR has been registered by the Delhi Police at South Campus Police Station under Sections 105, 290 and 125 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. The owner, identified as Hari Om Bansal, was reportedly arrested in Rajasthan on September 7.

The amicus has pointed out that Satya Niketan was not covered by the inspection exercise already ordered by the Supreme Court. By its July 9 order, the Court had constituted a committee to inspect buildings in Lajpat Nagar, Saket and Malviya Nagar. The inspection was completed on September 3, and as per the status report, the committee found certain buildings in Saidulajab, Saket and Lajpat Nagar to be in a precarious and unsafe condition. Its report is yet to be placed before the Court.

Sinha has therefore proposed that the inspection exercise be extended to PG accommodations, private hostels and similar student accommodation establishments across Delhi. The proposed inspection would examine sanctioned building plans, the actual construction and number of floors, basement construction and alterations, permissible land use, structural safety, fire-safety compliance, means of ingress and egress, and whether the premises are in a dangerous or ruinous condition.

The status report also points out that Satya Niketan had witnessed a building collapse in April 2022, in which two persons died and four others were injured. According to the report, the recurrence of such an incident in the same locality raises concerns regarding the existing mechanism for inspection, identification of dangerous structures and enforcement of building bye-laws.

The MCD has suspended five South Zone officers in connection with the incident. It has also ordered demolition of the adjoining property P-13, Satya Niketan, after finding it to be in a dangerous condition. The demolition order was issued on September 6 under Section 348 read with Section 491 of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957.

The Supreme Court's ongoing proceedings concern widespread violations of building bye-laws and land-use regulations. On March 25, 2026, the Court had taken note of such violations and observed that constructions were frequently being undertaken in breach of applicable norms, including in prohibited areas. It had directed that the issue be monitored on a pan-India basis.

Case Details: Loganathan v. The State of Tamil Nadu, Miscellaneous Application Diary No. 17103/2026