Uphaar fire tragedy: Ansal brothers move sessions court challenging 7-year jail term

Businessmen Sushil Ansal and his brother Gopal Ansal and one other convict in the 1997 Uphaar fire tragedy have moved an appeal in Sessions court challenging their sentence of seven years jail for tampering with the crucial evidence in the case.

The sessions court will hear the natter on November 15 and has sought response from Delhi Police in the matter.

On Monday, Delhi's Patiala High Court had sentenced convict Ansal brothers and others to seven years in prison for tampering with evidence in the Uphaar fire tragedy. Chief Metropolitan Magistrate also imposed a Rs 4.5 crore fine on the Ansal brothers in the matter. 

"After thinking overnights and nights, the court has come to the conclusion that they deserve punishment," the court said while passing the order. The AVUT (Association of Victims of Uphaar Tragedy) recently pleaded with the court to sentence life terms to convicts in the case.

Representing AVUT, lawyer Vikas Pahwa submitted before CMM Sharma that the case revealed the arrogance of rich people and said that the Ansal brothers had misused the liberty and hatched a conspiracy with the court staff and tampered with the evidence. 

The Court also awarded a 7-year-jail term to ex-court staff Dinesh Chand Sharma and individuals PP Batra and Anoop Singh and Rs 3 lakh fine on each of them.

Uphaar tragedy case

Industrialists Sushil and Gopal Ansal owned the Uphaar Cinema where a massive blaze on June 13, 1997, killed 59 people and more than 100 people were wounded in the stamped, during the premiere of the Bollywood film 'Border'. They were convicted by a trial court in 2015. However, later in the same year, the apex court had allowed them to walk free with Rs 60 crore fine while stating that they were not required to go to jail. The verdict caused uproar across the nation. Two years later, the Supreme Court sent Gopal Ansal to a year in bail. However, the bench didn't give any incarceration to Sushil Ansal due to his age. 

Image: ANI/PTI