Uphaar case: Ansal allowed to file written submissions

The Supreme Court has allowed Sushil Ansal to file his written submissions even as the Sessions judge holding trial in the Uphaar tragedy case has reserved the judgment.

The Supreme Court has allowed Sushil Ansal to file his written submissions even as the Sessions judge holding trial in the Uphaar tragedy case has reserved the judgment. The bench of Justices B.N. Aggarwal and V.S. Sirpurkar, however, asked Ansal to file the submissions on Friday after CBI counsel said the voluminous documents are likely to delay the judgment in the 10-year-old case.

HT Image

The Bench also allowed prosecuting agency CBI to rebut Ansal’s arguments through its own written submissions. The CBI has to file its rebuttal within a week.

Allowing Ansal’s plea, the Bench last week asked the CBI not to get rigid on the issue of filing written submissions. When additional solicitor general PP Malhotra said the accused’s prayer could not be allowed as per the provisions of the criminal procedure code, the Bench said a written submission would not change the facts of the case.

Appearing for Ansal, senior advocate Fali S Nariman said the trial court had denied his client an opportunity while it had given the same to the CBI, allowing them to rebut the arguments of the defence. Raising the grounds of natural justice, Ansal claimed in his petition before the Supreme Court that even though the trial judge had posed queries during the hearing, she did not receive the clarifications when the accused offered to her.