The Delhi high court on Wednesday refused to suspend seven-year jail term awarded to real estate barons Sushil Ansal and Gopal Ansal for tampering with evidence in the 1997 case of Uphaar cinema fire which had claimed 59 lives. The owners of Uphaar Cinema had moved the high court against the order of the sessions court that had pronounced the same verdict.
In November last year, the sessions court had awarded seven-year jail term to the real estate barons. Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Pankaj Sharma had also imposed a fine of Rs 2.25 crore each on the Ansals.
The court also awarded seven-year-jail term each to former court staff Dinesh Chand Sharma and two others — P P Batra and Anoop Singh and a fine of Rs 3 lakh each on the them.
After thinking over nights and nights, I have come to the conclusion that they deserve punishment, the judge had said. The convicts, out on bail, were taken into the custody after the order was pronounced.
The case is related to tampering with the evidence in the main fire tragedy case in which the Ansals were convicted and sentenced to 2-year jail term by the Supreme Court.
The apex court however released them 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.
The fire had broken out at the Uphaar cinema during the screening of the Hindi film ‘Border’ on June 13, 1997, claiming 59 lives.
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