Prayagraj, March 19 Holding that there was ample 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 inform it about the steps taken by their teams to save him, which had reached the spot.
A bench of justices MC Tripathi and Kunal Ravi Singh also asked the two agencies to inform the court about the training received by both the response teams for preparing for emergencies.
The court was hearing a public interest litigation (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 reviewed the counter affidavit filed by NOIDA and we find that although notices were issued to various erring builders on February 6, 2026, to rectify the defects within three days, the counter affidavit is completely silent on what remedial steps were taken and whether NOIDA had actually verified those steps."
"Furthermore, the affidavit is also silent on whether there is a nodal officer nominated in NOIDA 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 the NOIDA Authority who reached the spot when the entire incident was being broadcast live. We expect that an affidavit indicating the above should be filed by the next date fixed."
The court said in this 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 the SOS had immediately informed the police and the nearest patrolling team had reached there."
"The Fire Brigade, SDRF, and NDRF also reached there. There was a substantial period of time before he drowned in which rescue could have been attempted. It is not in dispute that, according to the pleadings before us, the expert team of SDRF and NDRF were available at the site. Although, the responses have been filed by the respondents-Authority and the State- respondents, but till date no response of SDRF and NDRF have been filed," the bench said.
Counsels for the state government and the NDRF sought an adjournment to inform 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 should be served upon the petitioner in person on or before the next date fixed in the matter.