Jailed Uphaar cinema hall manager gets bail

Delhi HC grants bail on medical grounds to the former manager of the Uphaar cinema hall Radha Krishan Sharma.

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday granted bail on medical grounds to the former manager of the Uphaar cinema hall Radha Krishan Sharma, undergoing a seven year sentence for his role in the cinema hall fire that killed 59 people in June 1997.

HT Image

Justice HR Malhotra granted bail to Sharma after a committee of doctors from Ram Manohar Lohia hospital appointed by the high court submitted their report stating that he was not in good health.

Twelve people, including Sharma and theatre owners Sushil and Gopal Ansal, were convicted by a trial court on November 23 for their complicity in the fire tragedy on June 13, 1997.

Sharma, held guilty under Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), has been serving a seven-year term at the Tihar Jail in New Delhi.

On January 15, he filed an appeal against the trial court verdict and sought suspension of his sentence and release on bail. He cited his poor health as one of the grounds for the suspension of the sentence.