Uphaar tragedy: Evidence tampering by Ansals cannot be taken lightly, police tell court

The Delhi Police on Friday argued that evidence tampering by real estate barons Sushil and Gopal Ansal in the 1997 Uphaar fire tragedy case eroded the confidence and trust of the common man in the criminal justice delivery system

The Delhi Police on Friday argued that evidence tampering by real estate barons Sushil and Gopal Ansal in the 1997 Uphaar fire tragedy case eroded the confidence and trust of the common man in the criminal justice delivery system.

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Public prosecutor AT Ansari, who appeared for the Delhi Police, told chief metropolitan magistrate Pankaj Sharma that the Uphaar Cinema tragedy was the most sensitive case in the city at that time and the disappearance of documents along with tampering of evidence cannot be taken lightly.

A fire broke out at the Uphaar Cinema in Green Park during the screening of Hindi film ‘’Border’’ on June 13, 1997, claiming 59 lives.

CMM Sharma was hearing a case on the tampering of evidence, which is related to the main fire case in which the Ansals were convicted and sentenced to two years in jail by the Supreme Court. However, the apex court released the brothers on time already served and imposed a fine of ₹30 crore on each of them, to be used for building a trauma centre in the national capital.

The present case was lodged on the direction of the Delhi high court while hearing a petition by the Association of Victims of Uphaar Tragedy (AVUT) chairperson Neelam Krishnamoorthy.

The Ansal brothers along with court staff Dinesh Chand Sharma, and other individuals — P P Batra, Har Swaroop Panwar, Anoop Singh and Dharamvir Malhotra — were booked in the present case for allegedly tampering with the evidence. Panwar and Malhotra died during the course of the trial.

Starting the final arguments in the case, Ansari said handpicking several most crucial and material documents from voluminous files running into thousands of pages, and then getting them removed, defaced and obliterated demonstrated the nefarious design of the accused persons and the flagrant act was executed in pursuance to a well-planned conspiracy to cover up the crime.

The prosecution argued that the complainant in the case was not the only victim in the present case, but also the justice delivery system itself. “This is the case which has not only brought a bad name to our well tested criminal justice delivery system but it has also eroded the confidence and trust of a common man in the system,” the public prosecutor said.

According to the charge sheet, documents were allegedly tampered with, including a police memo giving details of recoveries made immediately after the incident, the Delhi Fire Service records pertaining to repair of transformer installed inside the Uphaar premises, the minutes of the managing director’s meetings and four cheques.

Of the six sets of documents, a cheque of ₹50 lakh, issued by Sushil Ansal to self, and minutes of the MD’s meetings, proved beyond doubt that the two brothers were handling the day-to-day affairs of the theatre at the time of the fire, the charge sheet had said.