The Hindu : New Delhi News : ‘Show cause’ notice to Ansals

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Thursday, Aug 14, 2008
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‘Show cause’ notice to Ansals

Legal Correspondent

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued bailable arrest warrants against Ansal brothers and two others in the Uphaar Cinema fire tragedy case and asked them to “show cause” as to why their bail granted by the Delhi High Court should not be cancelled. Fifty-nine people had died in the fire at the Cinema hall on June 13, 1997.

A bench of Justice B.N. Agrawal and Justice G.S. Singhvi issued notices to Sushil Ansal, Gopal Ansal and two others Ajit Chowdhary and Nirmal Chopra, both ex-managers of the theatre, who were granted bail by the High Court. The Bench was hearing appeals filed by the Association of Victims of Uphaar Tragedy (AVUT) and another challenging the bail granted to the four in January.

Senior counsel K.T.S. Tulsi appearing for AVUT submitted that the Ansal brothers had been convicted for two years for an offence under Section 304-A (criminal negligence) and not under Section 304 IPC (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) for which the maximum punishment was life imprisonment.

He said vital documents were missing from court records and the trial court after enquiry had dismissed a court clerk. It had come to light that the two brothers were responsible for the removal of the documents and a case was pending against them for destroying the evidence. The High court while granting bail had not considered this aspect, he said.

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