New Delhi   

Uphaar victims' body moves Supreme Court

NEW DELHI, JAN. 10 .The Association of Victims of Uphaar Tragedy (AVUT) has moved the Supreme Court for recall of an order allowing a Special Leave Petition (SLP) of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) challenging a Delhi High Court judgment in which the local body has been held guilty in the Uphaar fire tragedy here of 1997.

In the petition, the Association alleged that to get its SLP admitted the civic body had submitted wrong facts to the Apex Court about its powers on No Objection Certificates (NOCs) to the hall owners for renewal of the cinematograph license of the theatre.

The petition said that counsel for the Corporation had submitted that his client had been wrongly held liable for the tragedy and the consequent payment of compensation as it had no role to play either in conducting the annual inspection of the cinema hall or granting of NOCs for the purpose of renewing the annual cinematograph license of the hall prior to 1996, and as such could not be held responsible for the tragedy as it had entered the scene only in 1996.

However, the AVUT alleged that the local body had deliberately and with malafide intentions not only presented false and misleading facts before the Apex Court but also concealed material facts to get the relief.

Quoting the amended Cinematograph Rules, 1981, the AVUT submitted that since 1994 the local body had been the agency responsible for inspection of cinema halls and granting of NOCs.

In view of the amended Cinematograph Rules, the local body was wholly responsible for continuing deviations/violations of the rules or the building by-laws by owners of cinema halls falling within its jurisdiction.

The petition further said that the local body had granted NOCs to the Uphaar Cinema for renewing of its license for 1995-96 and 1996-97.

The petition also referred to a recent dismissal order of the local body whereby it had dismissed B.B. Bajaj, the Charge Officer on whose report the local had issued an NOC to the Uphaar Cinema for 1996-97.

The dismissal order held that " the Charge Officer did not carry out a detailed inspection and point out various irregularities which were existing in the Uphaar Cinema premises in his report for issuing an NOC for renewal of annual cinematograph license of the hall for the year 1996-97..'', the petition said.

Interestingly, the local body had dismissed the officer after its SLP was admitted by the Supreme Court where it submitted that it had no role in conducting inspection of the hall or issuing NOCs to the hall owners, the petition said.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

New Delhi

News: Front Page | National | Tamil Nadu | Andhra Pradesh | Karnataka | Kerala | New Delhi | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• Time to talk business, build contacts
• Khurana loyalists dropped from Vardhan's team
• Unknown faces still haunt her
• They are happy to be back home
• Uphaar victims' body moves Supreme Court
• Kargil martyr's daughter commits suicide
• Six held for stealing export goods
• Extortion rackets busted
• Mahouts blame cops for non-use of reflectors
• They are happy to be back home
• Around the City
• In The Capital Today

Copyright © 2004, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu