Manuj Kathuria, the SUV driver arrested in connection with the tragic deaths of three civil service aspirants at a coaching center in Delhi, was granted bail on Thursday. A sessions court criticized the police for their "overenthusiasm" in initially charging him with culpable homicide, a charge that was later dropped.

Kathuria was taken into custody on July 29 following the incident at Rau's IAS Study Circle in Old Rajinder Nagar, where three students drowned in the basement. He was initially placed under 14-day judicial custody on charges of culpable homicide.

The police alleged that Kathuria drove his Force Gurkha SUV through a heavily flooded street, causing water to surge and breach the gates of the three-story building, leading to the inundation of the basement.

On Wednesday, a magistrate's court denied Kathuria bail, citing video footage that "prima facie" indicated he ignored warnings from passersby to drive cautiously on the flooded road.

Undeterred, Kathuria appealed the magistrate's court decision at the Tis Hazari Sessions Court. In his bail plea, he maintained his innocence, arguing that the police lacked evidence to support the allegations against him. "The blame for a state-wide infrastructural failure is being unfairly placed on one individual," he stated in his petition.

During the hearing, the police acknowledged their lack of sufficient evidence to support the culpable homicide charge under Section 105 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Consequently, they dropped this charge against Kathuria.

"The police have admitted in their written reply that the investigation thus far does not substantiate a case of culpable homicide under Section 105 of BNS against the SUV driver. The remaining charges against Manuj Kathuria are all bailable," the court noted in its order.

Kathuria was subsequently granted bail, pending further investigation.