Family members of Uphaar victims refuse to back down

The relatives of the victims of the Uphaar Cinema fire case have refused to give up and vowed to fight a legal battle and also take the fight to the streets to get justice so that corrective measures are taken to prevent any such tragedy in future.

They are organising their first ever protest at Jantar Mantar–a candle light march at 5 pm on Saturday. The relatives of the victims are also preparing to file a review petition and if rejected they will file a curative petition in the case. “In these 18 years we have never protested publicly but after August <g data-gr-id="17">15,2015</g>, when the Supreme Court rudely destroyed our faith in the legal system, we felt compelled to protest and ask more people to join hands with us,” said Neelam Krishnamoorthy.

“I lost both my children and they will never <g data-gr-id="23">return</g> but my fight is to ensure that government makes strict rules to prevent any such crisis in the future. People should not view it as an isolated incident,” she added. The protest is being <g data-gr-id="19">oranised</g> under the banner of Association of Victims of Uphaar (AVUT) to show their dissatisfaction and rage towards the Supreme Court verdict given on August 19, 2015, in which the court after considering the “advanced age” of convicts (Ansal brothers) asked them to pay Rs 60 crore. 

Due to negligence on the part of the owners, 28 families lost 59 members on June 13, 1997. Most of the victims suffocated to death and 103 were seriously injured.