Days after seven people were killed in the collapse of an illegally constructed building being used as a paying guest (PG) facility in Delhi’s Satya Niketan, the Supreme Court on Tuesday (September 8, 2026) indicated that it may expand its court-monitored exercise against illegal constructions and the unauthorised use of residential premises to examine the safety of student accommodation across the country.

A Bench of Justices Ahsanuddin Amanullah and R.

Mahadevan said it would take up the matter on Thursday (September 10, 2026) after the court-appointed amicus curiae sought a time-bound safety audit of PG facilities, private hostels and other student accommodation in and around colleges across Delhi.

Senior advocate Ajit Kumar Sinha, the court-appointed amicus curiae, told the Bench that he had filed a fresh status report following the Satya Niketan building collapse.

The report, he said, raised “serious concerns” over existing mechanisms for inspecting buildings, identifying dangerous structures and enforcing building bye-laws.

The report was filed in ongoing proceedings arising from a case in Tamil Nadu concerning construction in violation of land-use norms and building bye-laws.

In March, the apex court had widened the scope of the proceedings and sought information from civic bodies in several State capitals, including Delhi, Lucknow, Jaipur, Chennai and Kolkata, on action taken against similar violations.

Delhi building collapse death toll up to 7; HC orders citywide PG inspection, flags student housing woes HC plea transfer On Tuesday, the Bench also turned down an oral request by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and the Delhi Police, to allow the Delhi High Court to separately continue hearing a petition seeking a comprehensive probe into the Satya Niketan incident.

The High Court had on Monday (September 7, 2026) ordered an inquiry into the tragedy, and a safety inspection of PG facilities under the MCD’s jurisdiction.

“No.

This might have been taken up in the right earnest, but it is overlapping.

We will take it up.

We already have something in mind...

It has to be on a pan-India basis,” Justice Amanullah orally remarked.

DU South Campus remains deserted as colleges stay shut after PG collapse While Mr.

Mehta acknowledged that it was a “horrific” tragedy and that families were grieving the loss of lives, particularly of children, he pointed out that the High Court was already cognisant of the incident and had taken it up “in the right earnest”.

The Bench, however, said it would take up the matter on Thursday and indicated that it could thereafter consider transferring the proceedings pending before the High Court to itself.

Safety audit sought The latest status report, filed through advocate-on-record Govind Jee, pointed out that while the Supreme Court had already constituted a committee to inspect buildings in Lajpat Nagar, Saket, and Malviya Nagar, Satya Niketan did not fall within the scope of the exercise.

Delhi building collapse | Complete coverage It also referred to an earlier building collapse in Satya Niketan in April 2022, which killed two people and injured four others.

The recurrence of a fatal collapse in the same locality, the report said, raised concerns over the effectiveness of existing inspection mechanisms.

The report accordingly urged the court to extend the monitoring exercise across Delhi, particularly to student accommodation around universities and colleges.

It pointed out that PG facilities and private hostels often operate from residential properties that may have undergone “unauthorised additions”.

169 killed in building collapses in capital in five years; nearly 8,000 across the country “The extent to which such premises comply with sanctioned building plans, applicable building bye-laws, permissible land use, structural safety requirements and fire-safety norms requires verification by the competent authorities,” the report stated.

To underline the urgency of a wider inspection, the report also referred to action taken by the MCD against an adjoining property at P-13, Satya Niketan.

After finding the building to be in a dangerous condition, the civic body on September 6 ordered its demolition within the stipulated period under the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act.

Five MCD officials from the South Zone have also been suspended in connection with the Satya Niketan incident.

Suitcases in hand, fear in their eyes: Hundreds of students flee Satya Niketan after PG collapse While the precise cause of the Satya Niketan tragedy remains under investigation, the amicus curiae informed the court that preliminary material showed construction-related work in or around the basement and waterlogging immediately before the incident.

He also informed the Bench that inspections undertaken by the court-appointed committee in Saket, Lajpat Nagar and Malviya Nagar concluded on September 3.

The panel, comprising two senior Professors of the Indian Institute of Technology and two draftsmen, assisted by MCD officials, is understood to have identified several buildings in Saidulajab, Saket, and Lajpat Nagar as potentially unsafe.

Its findings are expected to be placed before the Supreme Court shortly.