Uphaar evidence tampering case: L-G nod for filing review petition
Police said they have filed an affidavit after the L-G’s order and will ask the court to enhance the punishment awarded to the Ansals in the case.
3 min read
Inside the Uphaar Cinema. (Express Photo by Tashi Tobgyal) Delhi L-G V K Saxena has approved filing of a review petition in the High Court against real estate barons Sushil Ansal and Gopal Ansal for allegedly tampering with evidence in the 1997 Uphaar Cinema fire tragedy case, which claimed 59 lives. Sources told The Indian Express that the L-G has approved the plea for the state to approach the court and ask for prosecution of the accused for seven years.
Police said they have filed an affidavit after the L-G’s order and will ask the court to enhance the punishment awarded to the Ansals in the case. A senior police officer in the Economic Offences Wing said, “A plea was filed by AVUT (Association of Victims of Uphaar Tragedy) to convict the accused for seven years. We are also putting the same petition in the court based on the investigation and sections of the FIR. We sent an affidavit to the Delhi High Court on Friday and the proceedings will start soon.”
In November 2021, a court convicted the Ansal brothers and other accused under IPC sections 201 (tampering of evidence), 120B (criminal conspiracy), and 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servant) and awarded a seven-year jail term along with a fine of Rs 2.25 crore for each in the case. However, the order was withheld in July 2022 by another court and the sentences were reduced to eight months (as on July 2022).
Challenging the court order, the AVUT filed a plea on the grounds that it was “illegal… not tenable in law”, and that the judges didn’t “appreciate” the facts of the case. The same was taken up by the state, and police said they started looking into the case and the sessions court order.
Meanwhile, Neelam and Shekhar Krishnamoorthy, parents of two children who died in the fire and author of the book, Trial by Fire — The tragic tale of the Uphaar Tragedy, said they filed the plea hoping for justice and proper punishment for the accused.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Neelam said, “The sessions judge was being unreasonable when he reduced the sentence to eight months and 12 days as against seven years. The accused were convicted on October 8, 2021, but were allowed to walk free on July 19, 2022. While reducing the sentence, the judge considered their old age. Further, I think the judge erred in referring to the sentence of seven years awarded to Sushil and Gopal Ansal as ‘double jeopardy’. Sushil and Gopal Ansal were on trial for completely different offences punishable under sections 120B, 409 and 201. The term ‘double jeopardy’ means when the prosecution or punishment of a person is done twice for the same offence… I hope the revision filed by us is taken up at the earliest…”
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