Uphaar fire tragedy: Delhi court frees Ansal brothers, takes note of old age

As complainant Neelam Krisnamoorthy broke down in the court, Justice Sharma consoled her saying nothing can compensate her loss, but the convicts' age had to be considered in the case.

A Delhi court on Tuesday released real estate tycoons Sushil and Gopal Ansal and two others for the period they had already undergone in the evidence tampering case in the 1997 Uphaar Cinema fire tragedy incident, a day after upholding their conviction.

A view of the Uphaar cinema’s property at Green Park in New Delhi, India, on Wednesday, September 5, 2018. (Sanchit Khanna / HT Photo)

The court took note of the old age of the convicts while deciding on the quantum of punishment of the convicts in the fire tragedy that had claimed 59 lives. District judge Dharmesh Sharma, however, said the fine would remain untouched.

As complainant Neelam Krisnamoorthy broke down in the court, Justice Sharma consoled her saying nothing can compensate her loss, but the convicts' age had to be considered in the case. “Although morally I feel that arguments are impactful. Nothing can compensate your loss,” he added.

Krisnamoorthy said she was very disappointed with the system and the ruling sent a wrong message that culprits can easily have their way by killing anyone.

A magisterial court had earlier convicted and awarded seven-year jail terms to the real estate barons in the case, besides imposing a fine of ₹2.25 crore on each of them.

However, the top court released them taking into account the prison time they had undergone on the condition that they pay a ₹30 crore fine each, to be used for building a trauma centre in the national capital.

According to the charge sheet, the documents tampered with included a police memo giving details of recoveries immediately after the incident, Delhi Fire Service records about repair of transformer installed inside the cinema hall, minutes of Managing Director's meetings, and four cheques.

(With inputs from agencies)