Prayagraj, Mar 19 Holding that there was substantial time to rescue Noida techie Yuvraj Mehta before he drowned in a water-filled trench in January, the Allahabad High Court has asked the NDRF and the SDRF to apprise it about the steps taken to save him by their teams which had reached the spot.
A bench of justices MC Tripathi and Kunal Ravi Singh also asked the two agencies to apprise it of the training received by both the response teams for preparation of emergencies.
The court was hearing a PIL related to the death of 27-year-old Mehta, who drowned after his car plunged into the trench at an undeveloped site in Sector 150, Noida, on January 16.
In its order passed on March 17, the court said, "We have also perused the counter affidavit filed by the NOIDA and we find that even though, notices were issued to various erring builders on February 6, 2026 to rectify the defects within three days but counter affidavit is completely silent with regard to what remedial steps were taken and whether NOIDA had actually verified the remedial steps taken."
"Furthermore, the affidavit is also silent whether in NOIDA, there is any Nodal Officer nominated to deal with emergency situations and to coordinate between various agencies in such emergencies," the court added.
It also said, "The affidavit is also silent as to who was the officer of NOIDA Authority who had reached the spot when the entire incident was being broadcasted live. We expect that an affidavit indicating the above should be filed by the next date fixed."
The court said in the instant matter, "we find that at the time of the incident, there was no shortage of information to the first respondents (state) as the distress call was immediately made by the father of the deceased. The recipient of SOS had immediately informed the police and the nearest patrolling team had reached there".
"Fire Brigade, SDRF and NDRF also reached there. Before drowning, there was a substantial period of time in which rescue could have been attempted. It is not in dispute that as per the pleadings set up before us, the expert team of SDRF and NDRF were available at the site. Even though, the responses have been filed by the respondents-Authority and the State- respondents, but till date no response of SDRF and NDRF are filed," the bench said.
Counsels for the state government and the NDRF sought an adjournment to apprise the court.
On this, the court fixed March 20 as the next date of hearing and said, "We expect that the responses are to be filed within two days and the affidavit be served upon to the petitioner-in person on or before the next date fixed in the matter.
