The Hindu : New Delhi News : Uphaar fire case verdict on Sept. 5

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Wednesday, Aug 22, 2007
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New Delhi

Uphaar fire case verdict on Sept. 5

Staff Reporter

Court reserves the order following conclusion of final arguments in the case

Owners of the cinema hall liable for penal action: CBI advocate
Not ‘managing’ Uphaar cinema at the time of tragedy: Ansals

NEW DELHI: Ten years after 59 people lost their lives inside Uphaar cinema hall in a fire on June 13, 1997, a court here on Tuesday reserved its verdict in the case. It has fixed September 5 for pronouncing the judgment.

Additional Sessions Judge Mamata Sehgal reserved the order following conclusion of final arguments in the case on Monday.

Appearing for the Central Bureau of Investigation, senior advocate Harish Salve contended that prime accused Sushil Ansal and Gopal Ansal, owners of the cinema hall, were liable for penal action. They made financial gains from the cinema hall and hence should also be held responsible for ensuring the safety of people coming to watch films in it, he argued.

Earlier, the Ansals had sought to establish that they were not at the helm of affairs at Uphaar cinema when the tragedy occurred and that the seating arrangements and exit plans of the hall had been duly approved by the authorities concerned.

Besides Ansals, there were 14 accused in the case. However, four of them died during the trial: R. M. Puri, K. L. Malhotra (both senior employees of Uphaar cinema), S. N. Dandona (Executive Engineer of the Public Works Department) and Delhi Fire Services officer Surender Dutt.

Among the other accused, R. K. Sharma, Ajit Chaudhary, N. S. Chopra and Manmohan Uniyal had been charged under Sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 337 (act endangering public safety) and 338 (causing hurt by endangering life) of the Indian Penal Code.

Sushil Ansal and Gopal Ansal, Shyam Sunder Sharma, N. D. Tiwari, Hanswaroop Panwar, B. M. Satija, A. K. Gera and Beer Singh (all three of the erstwhile Delhi Vidyut Board) have been charged under Section 304-A (causing death due to negligence) of the IPC. All the accused had also been charged under Section 14 of the Cinematography Act.

The CBI had filed the charge sheet on November 15, 1997, and the court had admitted it on January 19, 1998. Following a petition by the Association of the Victims of Uphaar Tragedy (AVUT), the Delhi High Court had on April 4, 2002, directed the trial court to conclude the trial by December 15, 2002.

Prior to that, the High Court had also directed the trial court in November 2000 to conclude the arguments on charges against the accused. The proceedings in the case had remained stuck for two years . On May 18 this year, the High Court again directed the trial court to speed up the proceedings. Again on June 1, the High Court asked the trial court to conclude the trial by August 31. It also directed the trial court to take up the case on a daily basis and asked it not to grant adjournments .

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