The Hindu : National : Partial victory for families

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Nov 21, 2007
ePaper

National

National

Partial victory for families

Staff Reporter

Many not satisfied with the verdict

Most families to wait for sentence
Ready to fight legal battle till the end

NEW DELHI: Tuesday’s verdict holding all the 12 accused, including Sushil Ansal and Gopal Ansal, guilty in the Uphaar Cinema fire tragedy case came only as a partial victory for the families of the victims of the fire tragedy.

Shekhar Krishnamoorthy, who along with his wife Neelam, has been doggedly fighting the legal battle, said: “Though we have reached a point where we have managed to get the accused convicted, I am not satisfied that the Ansal brothers have not been held guilty for culpable homicide not amounting to murder. Enough evidence had come on record during the trial to prove their culpability and I am hopeful that the High Court will appreciate the same.”

Earlier, at the stage of framing of charges, the Central Bureau of Investigation had booked the Ansals under Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Indian Penal Code. However, the lower court dropped the charges.

Nevertheless, Mr. Krishnamoorthy, who lost his 17-year-old daughter and 13-year-old son in the tragedy, expressed satisfaction that a verdict was finally handed out in “what was probably the only case of mass tragedy in the country reaching its logical conclusion.”

Most of the other families who were part of the AVUT expressed similar views saying they would like to wait to see the quantum of sentence being awarded to the convicts on Wednesday. S. C. Jain of the AVUT said he was not satisfied with the verdict and would wait till the announcement of sentence before arriving at any conclusion on whether justice was meted out to the victims and their families.

Pointing towards how lightly she felt the Ansals have been let off, AVUT convener Neelam Krishnamoorthy said it was strange that people get a five-year sentence for killing an animal and those responsible for killing 59 people would get a maximum sentence of only two years. “We know this is not the end. But we are ready to fight till we are alive. This is definitely a moral victory for us but the promises we made to our children are yet to be fulfilled,” said Naveen Sahni of the AVUT who lost his daughter in the tragedy.

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

National