Uphaar Fire Tragedy: 4, including Ansal brothers, convicted for tampering with evidence

A Delhi court on Friday convicted businessmen Sushil and Gopal Ansal along with their two employees among others in the case related to tampering with the crucial evidence in the 1997 Uphaar fire tragedy case.

New Delhi: A Delhi court on Friday convicted businessmen Sushil Ansal and Gopal Ansal, along with their two employees, in the case related to tampering with the crucial evidence in the 1997 Uphaar fire tragedy case.

While hearing the matter Patiala House Court's Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Dr Pankaj Sharma found all accused guilty under sections 409, 201, 120B of IPC and pronounced the order.
Meanwhile, Court has also sought the income certificate of all the accused and directed them to file it by Oct. 11 (Monday).

Along with Ansals, a court staff Dinesh Chand Sharma and other individuals PP Batra, Har Swaroop Panwar, Anoop Singh, and Dharamvir Malhotra were booked in the tampering of evidence case.

The Ansals were convicted and sentenced to 2-year jail term in the main case by the Supreme Court. It released them however taking into account the prison time they had done on the condition that they pay Rs 30 crore fine each, to be used for building a trauma centre in the national capital.

Out of seven accused, two accused Har Swaroop Panwar and Dharamvir Malhotra died during the course of the trial. The district court earlier had ordered framing of charges against seven accused of abetment of offence, causing disappearance of evidence, criminal breach of trust by a public servant, and criminal conspiracy.

Ansal brothers had earlier approached the High Court challenging the charges framed against them for tampering with evidence.

Senior advocate Vikas Pahwa has appeared in the matter for the complainant Association of Victims of Uphaar Tragedy (AVUT). While Senior Advocate Pramod Kr Dubey and Advocate Tanveer Ahmad Mir appeared for the duo in the matter.

Final arguments lasted for consecutive 40 days in the matter. The prosecution was represented by AT Ansari Public Prosecutor. The members of the Association are either those who were injured in the fire or are relatives of those who were injured or killed in the fire.

The case is related to tampering with the evidence of the Uphaar Cinema fire incident which claimed 59 lives. The tampering was detected for the first time on July 20, 2002, and a departmental enquiry was initiated against Dinesh Chand Sharma. He was suspended and terminated from services on June 25, 2004.

The fire broke out on Friday, 13 June 1997 at Uphaar Cinema in Green Park, Delhi, during the three o'clock screening of the movie "Border." As many as 59 people were trapped inside and died of asphyxiation, while 103 were seriously injured in the stampede.

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