Uphaar fire tragedy: Ansal brothers get 7 years in jail

Delhi’s Patiala House Court on Monday sentenced convict businessmen Sushil Ansal and Gopal Ansal and others to seven years’ jail term in the case related to tampering with crucial evidence in the 1997 Uphaar fire tragedy case.

The court also ordered to take them into custody. The Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Pankaj Sharma also imposed a fine of Rs 2.25 crores against Sushil Ansal and Gopal Ansal each in the matter. The court while passing the order said, “After thinking overnights and nights, the court has come to the conclusion that they deserve punishment.” The Association of Victims of Uphaar Tragedy (AVUT) recently pleaded before a Delhi court to give life imprisonment to businessman Sushil, Gopal Ansal, and others in evidence tampering cases relating to the 1997 cinema fire tragedy.

Representing AVUT, Senior advocate Vikas Pahwa had submitted before Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Pankaj Sharma that the case revealed the arrogance of rich people, who think themselves out of the reach of law and can get relief despite committing serious offences. He has demanded maximum punishment for the convicts.

He also had submitted that the accused in this case, primarily the Ansal brothers, misused the liberty granted to them in the main Uphaar case and tampered with the evidence after hatching a criminal conspiracy with the court staff.

Delhi’s Patiala House Court had earlier convicted businessmen Sushil Ansal and Gopal Ansal along with their two employees among others in the case related to tampering with the crucial evidence in the 1997 Uphaar fire tragedy case. The Court had found all accused guilty under Sections 409, 201, 120B of IPC and pronounced the order.

Along with the Ansal brothers, a court staff Dinesh Chand Sharma and other individuals P.P. Batra, Har Swaroop Panwar, Anoop Singh, and Dharamvir Malhotra were booked in the tampering of evidence case. Out of the seven accused, two accused Har Swaroop Panwar and Dharamvir Malhotra died during the course of the trial.

The district court earlier had ordered framing of charges against seven accused of abetment of offence, causing disappearance of evidence, criminal breach of trust by a public servant, and criminal conspiracy. Sushil and Gopal Ansal had earlier approached the High Court challenging the charges framed against them for tampering with evidence.

Senior advocate Vikas Pahwa has appeared in the matter for the complainant Association of Victims of Uphaar Tragedy (AVUT). While Senior Advocate Pramod Kr Dubey and Advocate Tanveer Ahmad Mir appeared for the Ansal brothers in the matter.

Final arguments lasted for 40 consecutive days in the matter. The prosecution was represented by AT Ansari Public Prosecutor. The members of the Association are either those who were injured in the fire or are relatives of those who were injured or killed in the fire. At least 59 people died of asphyxia and over 100 others were injured in the stampede after fire broke out in Uphaar cinema on 13 June 1997, during the screening of J.P. Dutta’s film “Border”.