The Hindu : New Delhi News : Ten years after Uphaar tragedy, Ansals held guilty

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

Ten years after Uphaar tragedy, Ansals held guilty

Prashant Pandey

Court to pronounce quantum of sentences today

— PHOTO: R. V. MOORTHY (See also Page 16)

A LONG WAIT ENDS: Relatives of victims of the decade-old Uphaar Cinema fire tragedy at the Patiala House courts in New Delhi on Tuesday soon after the verdict was pronounced.

NEW DELHI: The decade-long wait for justice by the families of Uphaar cinema fire tragedy victims has finally ended with a Sessions court here holding all the 12 accused, including the cinema hall owners Sushil Ansal and Gopal Ansal, guilty. The court will pronounce the quantum of sentences on Wednesday.

Tragedy struck on June 13, 1997, when a devastating fire broke out in the Uphaar cinema hall here at Green Park while the Bollywood film Border was being screened. The fire left 59 people dead and many injured.

Ten years later, on Tuesday, Additional Sessions Judge Mamata Sehgal convicted the Ansal brothers under Section 304-A (causing death due to negligence) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) read with other sections pertaining to endangering the personal safety of other people. The two were also found guilty under the Cinematography Act.

Seven other accused — Uphaar cinema managers Radha Kishan Sharma and Ajit Chaudhary, assistant manager N. S. Chopra and gatekeeper Manmohan Uniyal; Delhi Vidyut Board (DVB) inspectors B. M. Satija and A. K. Gera and senior fitter Bir Singh — were found guilty under Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder). They were also held guilty of endangering the personal safety of other people.

Municipal Corporation of Delhi officials Shyam Sunder Sharma and N. D. Tiwari and Delhi Fire Service Divisional Officer H. S. Panwar were found guilty of causing death due to negligence and endangering personal safety of others.

Four other accused — Uphaar cinema director R. M. Puri, deputy general manager K. L. Malhotra, Public Works Department executive engineer S. N. Dhandona and Delhi Fire Service station officer Sunder Dutt — died during the trial. The court had earlier awarded civil compensation amounting to more than Rs.19 crore for the victims, including Rs.2.5 crore for development of a trauma centre near Safdarjung Hospital.

The MCD, the erstwhile Delhi Vidyut Board and the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Licensing) have deposited nearly Rs.2.5 crore each with the Delhi High Court registry. The Ansals have deposited Rs.3 crore. However, barring the Delhi Vidyut Board, all others have approached the Supreme Court seeking reconsideration of the compensation amount.

Though relieved at the announcement of the verdict on Tuesday, most of the fire victims’ families were not satisfied at the Ansal brothers “being let off lightly”.

The convener of the Association of Victims of Uphaar Tragedy, Neelam Krishnamoorthy, said the cinema owners were the ultimate beneficiaries of all the alterations made in the hall, which was one of the major causes for the large number of deaths. “Therefore, they should have been booked for culpable homicide not amounting to murder. The managers and other officials have been held guilty under the same section, but they were not the ones making money,” she said. The Ansal brothers’ lawyer, Prem Kumar, said they would challenge the Sessions court verdict in the High Court.

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