By IANS
New Delhi : The Delhi High Court Friday dismissed the application of the Ansal brothers, facing trial in the 1997 Uphaar fire tragedy, when they sought permission to file additional written submissions before the lower court hearing the matter.
Justice S.N. Dhingra said: “I find no error and infirmity in the judgement of the trial court which had rejected their applications for submission of additional documents.”
The five accused — owners Sushil Ansal and Gopal Ansal of Uphaar cinema; managers of the hall Ajit Chaudhary, Nirmal Singh Chopra and R.K. Sharma — challenged the order of the trial court which had dismissed their pleas to file additional written submissions before the pronouncement of the judgement slated for October.
While dismissing the petitions, the court said, “There is no force in the petition.”
The five in a joint petition alleged that the trial court on Aug 22 did not accept their written arguments on the ground that the prosecutor was not present and disposed of their applications without hearing them.
“We want to file replies to the queries of the trial court, which had been raised at different points of final arguments… However, it did not hear petitioners’ counsel on those clarifications and fixed the next date of hearing,” the petition said.
A total of 12 accused, including Sushil and Gopal Ansal, were charged with causing death by negligence in the devastating fire in the hall on June 13, 1997, in which 59 people were killed and 100 injured.