Uphaar fire tragedy: Ansal brothers get 7 yrs jail & ₹5.5 cr fine for evidence tampering

In a major development, Delhi's Patiala House Court has awarded a sentence of seven years jail each to Sushil Ansal and Gopal Ansal, as well as to others, in the case related to alleged tampering with the crucial evidence in the 1997 Uphaar fire tragedy case. The Court also ordered to take them into custody.

A fine of Rs 2.25 crore each has also been imposed against Sushil Ansal and Gopal Ansal in the case related to tampering with the evidence in the 1997 Uphaar fire tragedy case.

Neelam Krishnamurthy, who lost both her children in the fire, fought a long and arduous fight for justice in the matter, and called it a historic judgement. "I think it was one of the toughest cases in my life. It was a really complicated matter."

"All convicted in #UphaarEvidenceTamperingCase get jail term for 7 years," she tweeted.

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Pankaj Sharma also awarded a 7-year-prison term to ex-court staff Dinesh Chand Sharma and individuals Anoop Singh and PP Batra and a fine of Rs 3 lakh on each of them.

"After thinking over nights and nights, I have come to the conclusion that they deserve punishment," the Judge said. Soon after the order was pronounced, the convicts were taken into custody.

The case is related to tampering with the evidence in the main fire tragedy which had claimed 59 lives, in which the Ansals were convicted and sentenced to a 2-year jail term by the Supreme Court.

Uphaar Tragedy Case

Industrialists Sushil and Gopal Ansal owned the Uphaar Cinema where a fire killed 59 people during the screening of 'Border' on June 13, 1997. A trial court had in 2015 convicted the brothers but later that same year, the Supreme Court had allowed them to walk free with a fine of Rs 60 crore while adding that they were not required to go to prison. The verdict created an uproar as Ansal brothers had individually undergone just five to six months imprisonment each at that time.

Two years later, the Supreme Court sent Gopal Ansal to a year in jail. Partially reviewing its order for the June 13, 1997 tragedy, the SC bench refused to give any incarceration to Sushil Ansal, keeping his age in mind. In 2017, a three-judge bench had given relief to 78-year-old Sushil Ansal considering his "advanced age-related complications" by awarding him the jail term which he had already undergone. It, however, asked his younger sibling Gopal Ansal to serve the remaining one-year jail term.