By IANS,
New Delhi : A day after the Supreme Court cancelled their bail plea, real estate tycoons Sushil and Gopal Ansal surrendered before a city court Thursday and were sent to jail till the time their appeal is heard against their conviction for lapses that led to the June 1997 Uphaar cinema fire tragedy.
Additional Sessions Judge I.K. Kochar sent them to judicial custody along with two managers of the theatre, Ajit Chaudhary and Nirmal Singh Chopra, after they surrendered before the court.
A battery of media persons was waiting for the Ansals in the court, but once again the brothers managed to give the cameramen the slip.
Attired in white shirts and black trousers, the brothers were impassive when they entered the courtroom in Patiala House. They were seen talking to their lawyers.
Though no family member from the Ansals was present, their company representatives were seen along with lawyers.
Families of the victims were present in the court premises since morning and expressed satisfaction that their fight to justice had finally ended.
“We are happy that finally our fight for justice has reached its conclusion,” said Association of the Victims of Uphaar Tragedy (AVUT) president Neelam Krishnamoorthy, who has been spearheading the tireless fight for justice.
Naveen Sahni, who lost her daughter in the tragedy, said: “Justice has been done and we are satisfied with the apex court’s move.”
At least 59 people, including 22 children, were killed and over 100 injured in the fire in Uphaar cinema hall over 11 years ago.
While cancelling the Ansal brothers’ bail, granted to them by the Delhi High Court, pending their appeal against their conviction and two-year jail term in the Uphaar fire tragedy case, the Supreme Court bench also directed the high court to dispose their appeals “expeditiously”.
The joint plea alleged that while out on bail, the two brothers were manipulating the judicial system and causing delay in disposal of their appeal by the high court.
A bench of Justice B.N. Agrawal and Justice G.S. Singhvi, observed that “it was a blunder on the part of the trial court not to have cancelled the bail” when the destruction of some court documents related to the trial was detected with prima facie involvement of Ansals in the act.
The bench made the observation as Ansals’ counsel U. Lalit, denying Ansal’s role in tampering with the evidence, contended that his clients were not benefited by the destruction of the documents.
Lalit made the contention in response to the plea by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) counsel, Additional Solicitor General Gopal Subramaniam, who sought the Ansals’ bail be cancelled because of their suspected role in the destruction of evidence in the trial court.
“Tampering with court records is a serious offence, worse than murder and dacoity. The high court should not have granted bail,” said the Supreme Court.
The convicts include the capital’s erstwhile power distribution firm, Delhi Vidyut Board employees B.M. Satija, A.K. Ghera and Beer Singh, besides Uphaar theatre gatekeeper Mamohan Uniyal. The four are currently serving terms in Tihar Jail.
Those out on bail till now include, besides the Ansal brothers, their former managers Chaudhary, Chopra and Radha Kishan Sharma. Others on bail are H.S. Panwar, a former employee of Delhi Fire Service, and N.D. Tiwari and Shyam Sunder Sharma of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi.
Sharma, a septuagenarian, has been granted bail on medical grounds.
The Ansals were convicted in 2007 by a Delhi court of criminal negligence. During the 1997 fire, they were the owners of Uphaar theatre where 59 people choked to death when a short circuit caused the blaze. The people in the balcony stood no chance. Exit routes had been blocked to squeeze in a few extra seats. The Ansals were sentenced to two years in prison and later granted bail.
It was immediately challenged by the families of victims, who said the sentence was a joke.
The evidence that the Ansals are accused of destroying documents that prove they were involved in the day-to-day running of the theatre was a concerted attempt to distance themselves from the tragedy. The documents were filed in court but went missing almost five years ago.
Once the Ansals go to jail, the Uphaar case will go back to being heard in the high court where the builders have challenged the guilty verdict against them and where the families of those killed in the fire have appealed for a stronger sentence against one of Delhi’s largest and most powerful business families.