1997 Uphaar cinema fire: 7-year imprisonment for Sushil, Gopal Ansal
A Delhi court Monday sentenced real estate barons Gopal and Sushil Ansal to seven years' imprisonment for tampering with the evidence of the 1997 Uphaar cinema fire tragedy. The two were also fined Rs. 2.25 crore. Former court staff Dinesh Chand Sharma and two others, PP Batra and Anoop Singh, were also awarded a seven-year jail term and a Rs. 3 lakh fine.
Why does it matter?
The case pertains to the tampering of evidence in the Uphaar fire tragedy wherein the Ansals were sentenced to two-year imprisonment by the Supreme Court. The Ansals owned Uphaar cinema. On June 13, 1997, a fire broke out at Delhi's Uphaar cinema during the screening of the film Border. Fifty-nine people were killed and over 100 were injured as the fire triggered a stampede.
'Ansals deserve punishment'
Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Pankaj Sharma said, "After thinking over nights and nights, I have come to the conclusion that they deserve punishment." The documents tampered with were crucial to their conviction in the original Uphaar cinema case, it noted. The Ansals were convicted under IPC Sections 201 (tampering of evidence), 120B (criminal conspiracy), and 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servant) last month.
Missed evidence was 'most critical'
The court observed that the documents were "most critical" for the Ansals' trial. The accused "conveniently" took advantage of the missing documents during the trial by challenging the prosecution's motion of secondary evidence. The documents were "effaced from the record to secure their acquittal and put a stumbling block in the trial," it said, saying the accused defiled the justice administration system.
SC had earlier allowed Ansals' release
In 2015, a trial court had convicted the Ansals in the case. The same year, the Supreme Court sentenced the two to a two-year jail term. The accused were allowed to walk free considering the prison time they had already served. They were released on the condition that they pay Rs. 30 crore fine each for building a trauma center.
Ansals convicted for evidence tampering in October
The Ansals' release had invited criticism as they had served only five to six months in prison each. On October 8 this year, a trial court convicted the Ansal brothers and two other employees for tampering with evidence. Soon thereafter, they were taken into custody.
