Uphaar fire case: Delhi court dismisses Ansal brothers’ plea seeking suspension of 7-year jail term

The Delhi's sessions court on Friday dismissed the plea of Ansal brothers and others seeking suspension of their seven-year jail term for tampering with evidence in the 1997 Uphaar fire tragedy case. 

The case is related to tampering with the evidence in the main fire tragedy case, which had claimed 59 lives, in which the Ansals were convicted and sentenced to a two-year jail term by the Supreme Court.

The apex court, however, released them taking into account the prison time they had done on the condition that they pay ₹30 crore fine each, to be used for building a trauma centre in the national capital.

The magisterial court had found all accused guilty under sections 409, 201, 120B of IPC. The court had also imposed a fine of ₹2.25 crore each on the Ansals. While passing the order, the court said: “After thinking overnights and nights, I have come to the conclusion that they deserve punishment.”

Along with the Ansal brothers, a court staff Dinesh Chand Sharma and other individuals PP Batra, Har Swaroop Panwar, Anoop Singh, and Dharamvir Malhotra were also booked in the tampering of evidence case.

Out of seven accused, two accused Har Swaroop Panwar and Dharamvir Malhotra died during the course of the trial.

The businessmen Gopal Ansal, Sushil Ansal and others had recently moved session court against magistrate Court's order.

Following this, the Association of Victims of Uphaar Tragedy (AVUT) had opposed the application for suspension of sentence primarily on the ground of the gravity of the offence.

Earlier, Delhi Police had also strongly opposed the appeal and said it will trigger the mental trauma and agony of victims.

The fire had broken out at the Uphaar cinema during the screening of the Hindi film 'Border' on 13 June 1997, claiming 59 lives.

The case was lodged on the direction of the Delhi High Court while hearing a petition by AVUT chairperson Neelam Krishnamoorthy.