Delhi court issues non-bailable warrants against Ansals in evidence tampering case

On June 13, 1997, a fire broke out at the theatre during the screening of the Bollywood film ‘Border’, killing 59 people and injuring over 100.

A Delhi court on Tuesday issued non-bailable warrants (NBWs) against Sushil Ansal and Gopal Ansal for failing to appear before it in a case of alleged tampering of evidence in the 1997 Uphaar cinema hall fire case.

Sushil Ansal(HT File Photo)

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Deepak Sherawat issued the warrants against the real estate barons while hearing a case related to the tampering of records after Neelam Krishnamoorthy, who lost her two children in the fire, had sought compliance of the Delhi High Court order directing hearing of the matter thrice a week. Krishnamoorthy, President of the Association of the Victims of Uphaar Tragedy (AVUT), has been fighting the legal battle on behalf of the victims’ families for the last 20 years.

Meanwhile, the Ansal brothers also moved an application seeking cancellation of the NBWs. In the application filed through advocate Vijay Aggarwal, the duo said there would irreparable loss if the warrants are not can cancelled.

On June 13, 1997, a fire broke out at the theatre during the screening of the Bollywood film ‘Border’, killing 59 people and injuring over 100. On January 31, 2003, a trial court ordered an inquiry after some documents related to the case went missing from the record room. After an inquiry, a court employee was dismissed from service.

The case is related to the tampering of a judicial file pertaining to a letter written by the vice-president of Ansal Properties Industries Ltd, V K Nagpal, to the Delhi Fire Services. An FIR was registered in this regard.