Uphaar cinema fire tragedy: Delhi courts sentences Ansal brothers to 7-year jail term for evidence tampering
Chief metropolitan magistrate Pankaj Sharma also imposed a fine of Rs 2.25 crore on each of the Ansal brothers.
FollowThe Delhi Patiala House Court on Monday awarded seven-year simple imprisonment to convict businessmen Sushil Ansal and Gopal Ansal and others in a case of tampering with evidence in the 1997 Uphaar cinema fire tragedy case in which 59 lives were lost. The court also ordered Ansals to be taken into custody immediately, from where they'll be transferred to Tihar jail.
Chief metropolitan magistrate Pankaj Sharma also imposed a fine of Rs 2.25 crore on each of the Ansal brothers. The court has also permitted to provide medication, spectacles, etc to the accused. The court has also imposed Rs 3-lakh fine each on the other three accused -- ex-court staff Dinesh Chand Sharma, PP Batra, and Anoop Singh.
Pronouncing the judgment, Sharma said he reached the conclusion that the real estate barons deserved punishment after he spent nights thinking about the case. “I think it is very hard to reach out to this decision given the complexities involved. After some thinking over some nights and nights, I have come to this conclusion that they deserve punishment. They will serve 7 years of jail time and Rs 2.25 crore fine each on the Ansals,” the magistrate said.
On October 8, the court had convicted the Ansal brothers along with two of their employees among others in connection to the case. Industrialists Sushil and Gopal Ansal owned the Uphaar Cinema where a fire killed 59 people during the screening of 'Border' on June 13, 1997.
Neelam Krishnamurthy, who lost both her children in the fire, fought a long and arduous fight for justice in the matter, and called it a historic judgement. “I think it was one of the toughest cases in my life. It was a really complicated matter,” Republic reported. “All convicted in #UphaarEvidenceTamperingCase get jail term for 7 years,” she tweeted.
