Delhi court allows Uphaar victims to assist police in prosecuting realtor in passport renewal case

The order was passed by chief judicial magistrate Shriya Agrawal of the Patiala House Court on Monday, allowing a plea moved by Association of Victims of Uphaar Tragedy under Section 302 of CrPC

NEW DELHI

A Delhi court has allowed 1997 Uphaar fire tragedy victims to assist the Delhi Police in prosecuting realtor Sushil Ansal in a case accusing him of fraudulently getting his passport renewed. (Shutterstock)

A Delhi court has allowed 1997 Uphaar fire tragedy victims to assist the Delhi Police in prosecuting realtor Sushil Ansal in a case accusing him of fraudulently getting his passport renewed.

The order was passed by chief judicial magistrate Shriya Agrawal of the Patiala House Court on Monday, allowing a plea moved by Association of Victims of Uphaar Tragedy (AVUT) under Section 302 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), which allows a court to grant permission—other than to a police officer below the rank of Inspector— to conduct the prosecution in a case. The section essentially ensures that a complainant could participate in the prosecution through their counsel and assist the prosecutor, representing the police.

The court said, “…it is observed that the association at the instance of which, the law was set into motion in the present case ought to get a right of assisting the prosecution, to which liberty, there is no bar in law…as opposed to being given the reigns of the prosecution itself, the Association is at liberty to assist the prosecution in the present case”.

In November 2007, a decade after the tragedy that killed 59 people, a trial court convicted realty tycoons Gopal Ansal and his brother Sushil Ansal, among others, and sentenced them to two years in prison, the maximum sentence the law provides for causing death due to negligence under Section 304A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). In December 2008, the Delhi High Court upheld the conviction but reduced the sentence to one year.

In February 2017, the Supreme Court directed the two of them to pay a fine of ₹30 crore each, for the construction of a trauma centre. While Sushil, who spent a little over five months in jail, was let off for the period already served on account of his age (then 77), then 68-year-old Gopal Ansal was directed to undergo one year of imprisonment.

In July 2022, a Delhi court convicted the brothers in another case pertaining to the fire, related to tampering with and destroying evidence. The brothers were let off by the court in the case for the period already served by them during the pendency of the case.

The case pertaining to passport forgery, where only Sushil Ansal stands as an accused, is currently at the stage of arguments on framing of charges at the Patiala House Courts.

In its plea, AVUT, led by Neelam Krishnamoorthy, who lost her two children in the tragedy, represented by senior advocate Vikas Pahwa, highlighted that the victims had been at the forefront of the battle for justice and had closely tracked and assisted all hearings in the previous two cases against the Ansals.

The plea also pointed out several grievances in the Delhi Police’s investigation and filing of the charge sheet.

Meanwhile, Sushil, through his Advocate Gautam Khazanchi, opposed the plea, stating that AVUT had no locus standi to address arguments on charge and prosecute Ansal as they were mere complainants.