Uphaar cinema fire: Victims move HC to enhance punishment of Ansals in evidence tampering case

New Delhi: The Association of Victims of Uphaar Tragedy (AVUT) Thursday approached the Delhi High Court seeking enhancement of punishment of real estate tycoons Sushil and Gopal Ansal, who were released against the jail term already undergone by them for tampering with evidence in the case related to the 1997 Uphaar cinema fire which had claimed 59 lives.

The petition, challenging the trial court's order on sentence and seeking enhancement of the jail term from the period already undergone to the original sentence of seven years awarded to the convicts earlier, was listed before Justice Asha Menon who did not hold the court on Thursday.

The matter has now been listed for hearing on September 5.

A magisterial court had on November 8, 2021, awarded seven-year jail terms to the real estate barons and since then they were in prison.

The District Judge had on July 19 modified the magisterial court's order on sentence and ordered the release of Ansals, former court staff Dinesh Chand Sharma and Ansal's then employee P P Batra against their already undergone jail term since November 8, 2021.

It, however, had upheld the fine of Rs 2.25 crore imposed by the magisterial court on Sushil and Gopal Ansal each and Rs three lakh each on the other two convicts.

The petitioner organisation, represented through senior advocate Vikas Pahwa, said the district judge has failed to consider that the offence of tampering is extremely serious in nature as it affects the entire criminal justice system.

It is direct interference in the administration of justice and thus requires serious consideration while sentencing a convict for committing the offence of misappropriating the court files and tampering with the most crucial evidence, purported to be used for convicting an accused person, the plea, filed through AVUT chairperson Neelam Krishnamoorthy, said.

It contended that the trial court failed to consider that this is a case that shatters the confidence of the public at large in the criminal justice system and it requires a maximum sentence so that it works as a deterrent for others who even dream of tampering with the court record

in future.

It said the district judge has failed to consider that the accused in this case, primarily the Ansal brothers, misused the liberty granted to them in the main Uphaar case and tampered with the evidence after hatching a criminal conspiracy with the court staff.