Ansals get bail,poser from SC: why not 2-yr jail?

Even as Uphaar Cinema owners Sushil and Gopal Ansal were released by the Supreme Court on bail today,the duo is facing a poser from the apex court as to why their sentence need not be enhanced to two years instead of one.

Even as Uphaar Cinema owners Sushil and Gopal Ansal were released by the Supreme Court on bail today,the duo is facing a poser from the apex court as to why their sentence need not be enhanced to two years instead of one.

The Delhi High Court had on December 19,2008 reduced their prison sentence to a year for negligence causing the death of 59 cinema-goers trapped in the Uphaar fire in 1997.

The Ansal brothers were released on a personal bond of Rs 10,000. But the bench of Justices S B Sinha and V S Sirpurkar directed them to file a response to a plea by the Association of the Victims of the Uphaar Tragedy (AVUT),which challenged the one-year sentence. The bench also issued notices on the appeal filed by the real estate tycoons challenging the High Court decision to hold them guilty of negligence in the first place.

The apex courts order comes in the backdrop of the recusal (withdrawal) by Justice B N Aggrawal from the case after senior counsel Ram Jethmalani asked him to do so. Justice Aggrawal had earlier cancelled their brothers bail.

The bench,in a way,has now reversed the apex courts earlier order canceling the duos bail following allegations from AVUT that the accused had tampered with judicial records. On September 10 last year,a bench of Justices B N Aggrawal and G S Singhvi had cancelled the bail granted by High Court.

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