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On June 13, 1997, a fire broke out in Uphaar cinema hall during the screening of JP Dutta's film 'Border,' killing at least 59 people and injuring over 100 more in a stampede.
The Delhi High Court on Friday allowed an application filed by the Association of Victims of Uphaar Tragedy (AVUT) seeking early hearing in the plea filed in the evidence tampering case related to the Uphaar cinema tragedy.
The AVUT has filed a revision petition seeking enhancement of the sentence and against the July 19, 2022 order passed by the District and Principal Judge of Patiala House court ordering release of the Ansal brothers.
During the hearing, Senior Advocates N. Hariharan and Siddharth Aggarwal appeared for the Ansal brothers and vehemently opposed the application.
Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani opined that since the matter pertains to tampering of evidence and administration of justice it will have to be heard expeditiously. Accordingly, the court listed the matter for hearing on July 12, 2023.
In related news, in January this year, the same single-judge bench issued notice to Gopal Ansal, Sushil Ansal, and other convicts on a plea filed by Delhi Police challenging a trial court order reducing their sentences from 7 years to 8 months in the evidence tampering case, in connection with the Uphaar Cinema Fire tragedy of 1997.
Court had sought reply from the Association of Victims of Uphaar Tragedy (AVUT) and directed the Ansal brothers and other convicts to file their replies in four weeks.
The Delhi Police had challenged the Principal District and Sessions Judge's July 2022 order, wherein the court had observed that the trial court’s order sentencing all the convicts to life imprisonment was harsh and disproportionate to the offence committed.
It is to be noted that in November 2021, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Pankaj Sharma sentenced real estate barons Sushil Ansal and Gopal Ansal to 7 years imprisonment for tampering with evidence in the case of the Uphaar Cinema fire that occurred in 1997. The court also imposed a fine of INR 2.25 crores each on them.
While convicting the brothers for tampering with evidence, CMM Sharma also held a former court staff Dinesh Chand Sharma and two other people, PP Batra and Anoop Singh, guilty in the case.
In 1997, at least 59 people died of asphyxiation and over 100 others were injured in a stampede after a fire broke out in Uphaar cinema hall on June 13, 1997, during the screening of JP Dutta's film 'Border'.
Case Title: Association of Victims of Uphaar Tragedy v. State of NCT of Delhi & Ors.
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