By IANS
New Delhi : The Delhi High Court Thursday constituted a committee of doctors to examine the health of Uphaar manager Radha Krishan Sharma, undergoing seven years’ imprisonment for his role in the cinema hall fire tragedy, after he moved a bail application citing ill health.
Justice H.R. Malhotra constituted the committee after hearing the brief arguments from Additional Solicitor General (ASG) P.P. Malhotra, appearing for the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), that Sharma’s medical report mentioned hypertension as the cause of his ill health and that he had been discharged from hospital.
The committee of doctors will submit its report on Jan 23, the next date of hearing.
The ASG also submitted to the court that it was a fit case for initiating contempt proceedings against the deputy superintendent of Tihar Jail for writing a letter to Delhi Police terming the convict’s condition as “very critical”.
The jail official wrote the letter to the police Jan 12, also seeking that the wife of the convicted prisoner be allowed to stay with him during his hospitalisation.
Twelve accused, including Sharma and theatre owners Sushil and Gopal Ansal, were convicted by a trial court Nov 23 for their complicity in the Uphaar fire, in which 59 people lost their lives during the screening of a movie June 13, 1997.
Sharma, held guilty under Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), has been serving seven-year term in Tihar Jail here.
On Jan 15, he filed an appeal against the trial court verdict and sought suspension of his sentence and release on bail. He cited his poor health as one of the grounds for the suspension of the sentence.
Apart from the Ansal brothers and three others, two MCD officials S.S. Sharma and N.D. Tiwari and Delhi Fire Service employee H.S. Panwar were awarded two years in jail.
The remaining seven convicts, Sharma, N.S. Chopra, Ajit Chowdhary (Uphaar managers), Manmohan Unniyal (the cinema’s gatekeeper), Brij Mohan Satija, A.K. Gera and Bir Singh (all Delhi Vidyut Board officials) were handed down seven years’ jail term as they were convicted under harsher penal provisions as compared to the Ansals.