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Uphaar owner not liable for deaths: Jethmalani

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Friday began hearing argument on appeals in the Uphaar fire tragedy case of 1997 on a day-to-day basis.

Initiating the argument on behalf of Sushil Ansal, one of the owners of Uphaar cinema hall and an accused in the case, senior counsel Ram Jethmalani submitted that his client had no criminal liability for the deaths of as many as 59 people in the tragedy on June 13, 1997, as he was not on the board of directors of the hall-owning company at the time.

He submitted that the victims had died due to asphyxiation caused by the fire in the transformer installed in the basement of the cinema hall, not due to any human action or inaction. He further submitted that the transformer belonged to the Delhi Electricity Supply Undertaking (DESU).

He also charged that publicity and campaign against his client had vitiated the hearing of the case which might lead to miscarriage of justice. “Judges are also after all human beings,” he stated.

He submitted that his client was ready to pay more to the families of the victims to soothe their wounds.

He will continue his argument on March 10.

A Delhi court last year had sentenced Sushil Ansal to two years’ rigorous imprisonment in the case. He is on bail. Besides him, the court had convicted 12 more accused in the case.

In his appeal he contended that there was a complete misreading of the material on record by the trial court judge, therefore her findings were not sustainable as they were self-contradictory.

Referring to an excerpt from the judgment, the appeal said the judge had referred to inspection reports of the transformer installed in the basement by the electrical inspector for 1995, 1996 and 1997 but at the same she had held that there were no inspection reports and the licence of the hall was renewed in collusion with officials of various government departments.

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