Delhi Hotel Fire: Owner and Accountant Remanded to 12-Day Custody as Investigation Uncovers Licensing Fraud and Gross Safety Lapses

Delhi Court Remands Hotel Owner, Accountant to 12-Day Custody Following Deadly Blaze

NEW DELHI – Delhi Hotel Fire: A Delhi court on Wednesday ordered the owner and the accountant of a South Delhi hotel into 12-day judicial custody, following a catastrophic fire that claimed the lives of 22 people earlier this month.

Judicial Magistrate Bhanu Pratap Singh handed down the order after Delhi Police produced hotel owner Lavkesh Bajaj and his accountant, Jay Mishra, in court. The two men were arrested following the June 3 blaze at Flourish Stays, a Bed and Breakfast facility in the Hauz Rani area of Malviya Nagar.

The fire, which stands as one of the deadliest incidents in the national capital in years, resulted in the deaths of nine Indians and 13 foreign nationals.

The Licensing Shell Game

Look, the legal mess here is just as bad as the fire safety failures. During interrogation, accountant Jay Mishra reportedly spilled the beans to investigators: he handed over his own personal identification documents so Bajaj could secure the B&B license.

Essentially, the hotel was operating under a license in an employee’s name while Bajaj pulled the strings behind the curtain. Investigators are now digging into how that licensing was even approved in the first place. Mishra wasn’t just a guy doing payroll, either. He was Bajaj’s long-time right-hand man, managing everything from staff shifts to the paperwork that likely kept the authorities from looking too closely at the building.

How the Fire Started

The truth is, the whole tragedy might have been avoided with a simple flick of a switch. According to police reports, the cook, Keshav Negi, started the chain reaction.

Negi allegedly turned on an oil fryer in the kitchen to make himself some tea. He walked away to drink it and completely forgot the fryer was still running. The oil hit its auto-ignition temperature, the flames climbed to the ceiling, and it was game over.

Here’s the thing that really stands out: the cook allegedly tried to put the fire out for a second, panicked when he couldn't, and then just ran away.

Unanswered Questions

There is a massive, gaping hole in the timeline that the police are trying to fill. From the moment the first smoke appeared to the second the first emergency call hit the dispatchers, there was a 30-minute delay.

Why? That’s what everyone wants to know.

• The death toll: 22 total (9 Indians, 13 foreign nationals).
• The location: Flourish Stays B&B, Hauz Rani, South Delhi.
• The primary suspect: Lavkesh Bajaj (Owner).
• The primary aide: Jay Mishra (Accountant).

What’s interesting, if you can call it that, is the complete lack of basic safety protocols. You look at the building, and you wonder how any inspector signed off on it. It’s hard not to be cynical about the whole licensing system in Delhi when you see these "boutique" hotels operating in residential areas with zero regard for fire exits or sprinkler systems.

Moving Forward

The investigation is shifting toward the specific staff violations that allowed the facility to operate in such a state. As the legal proceedings drag on, the families of the 22 victims are left waiting for answers that probably won’t bring them any peace.

For now, Bajaj and Mishra are headed to Tihar Jail. The police still have a lot of work to do, and the pressure to find out why that 30-minute gap existed is only going to mount. This isn't just a kitchen accident; it's a systemic failure. We'll see if the courts decide to make an example out of them. Source News 18