Prayer meet for Uphaar victims tomorrow

A prayer meet will be held on Monday in memory of the 59 people who perished in the inferno at the Uphaar cinema hall here 14 years ago.

A prayer meet will be held on Monday in memory of the 59 people who perished in the inferno at the Uphaar cinema hall here 14 years ago.

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The prayer meet will be held at 9 AM in Smriti Upavan at Green Park Extension, opposite the site of Uphaar hall.

Demanding justice for the victims of the fire tragedy, Association of the Victims of Uphaar Tragedy (AVUT), which is fighting a legal battle in the matter, said that they have not got justice even after 14 years of the incident.

"Even after 14 years, justice remains a mirage for the victims of the Uphaar fire. This is a travesty of justice," AVUT president Neelam Krishnamoorthy, who lost her both children in the tragedy, said.

She expressed disappointment with the judgement of the Delhi High Court in the criminal appeal in which the sentence of the accused were reduced.

The high court had on December 19, 2009, sentenced the owners of Uphaar Cinema -- Sushil Ansal and Gopal Ansal and former Delhi Fire Service staff H S Panwar to one-year prison term. Three others -- gate keeper Manmohan Unniyal, Delhi Vidyut Board employees Brij Mohan Satija and Bir Singh -- were awarded two-year jail term.

The appeal against the high court's judgement is pending in the Supreme Court.

The trial court after taking into account AVUT's petition for making former IPS officer Amod Kanth an accused in the case for allowing additional seats in the balcony of Uphaar hall in 1979, had summoned him on August 12, 2010.

Kanth then approached the Delhi High Court to set aside the trial court's order and the next date of hearing in the matter is July 18, 2011, whereas the trial court has fixed August 29, 2011 for arguments.