In a major relief for real estate tycoons Sushil and Gopal Ansal and two others, the Patiala house court on Tuesday ordered their release against the jail term already undergone by them in a case of tampering with evidence in the case related to the 1997 Uphaar cinema fire, which had claimed 59 lives.
A magisterial court had on November 8, 2021 awarded seven-year jail terms to the real estate barons and they were in prison since then.
District Judge Dharmesh Sharma on Tuesday, however, upheld the fine of Rs 2.25 crore imposed on each Sushil and Gopal Ansal by the magisterial court earlier.
“We empathise with you (Association of Victims of Uphaar Tragedy chairperson Neelam Krishnamoorti). Many lives were lost, which can never be compensated. But you must understand that penal policy is not about retribution. We have to consider their (Ansals) age. You have suffered, but they have also suffered,” the judge said, as complainant Krisnamoorti broke down in court.
WHAT HAPPENED ON MONDAY?
The Delhi court on Monday upheld the conviction of Sushil and Gopal Ansal for tampering with evidence in the case.
Sharma had dismissed the appeal filed by real estate barons and two others challenging their conviction by a magisterial court. The court acquitted one co-accused, Anup Singh, in the case and granted him bail.
A magisterial court had convicted and awarded seven-year jail terms to Ansals in the case, besides imposing a fine of Rs 2.25 crore on each of them. Besides Ansals, the court had also awarded seven-year jail terms to former court staff Dinesh Chand Sharma and two others — P P Batra and Anup Singh — and had imposed a fine of Rs 3 lakh each on them.
THE CASE
The case is related to tampering with the evidence in the main fire tragedy case in which the Ansals were convicted and sentenced to a two-year jail term by the Supreme Court.
The apex court, however, released them taking into account the prison time they had done on the condition that they pay a Rs 30 crore fine each, to be used for building a trauma centre in the national capital.
As per the charge sheet, the documents tampered with included a police memo giving details of recoveries immediately after the incident, Delhi Fire Service records about repair of transformer installed inside Uphaar, minutes of Managing Director’s meetings, and four cheques. Out of the six sets of documents, a cheque of Rs 50 lakh, issued by Sushil Ansal to self, and minutes of the MD’s meetings, proved beyond doubt that the two brothers were handling the day-to-day affairs of the theatre at the relevant time, the charge sheet had said.
It said the Ansals had taken the defence in the main case that they had no involvement in the day-to-day functioning. The tampering was detected for the first time on July 20, 2002, and a departmental enquiry was initiated against Dinesh Chand Sharma. He was suspended and terminated from services on June 25, 2004.
With Agency Inputs
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