Heartbreak for victims’ families

Neelam Krishnamurthy, whose young son and daughter were killed in the incident, has led the long and tough campaign for families under the aegis of Association of Victims of Uphaar Tragedy (AVUT). She broke down on Wednesday on hearing the Supreme Court verdict. “I was very angry and disappointed. I’ve been let down very badly. The judges said in their order this was willful negligence,” she said.

The three-judge Bench of Justices A R Dave, Kurian Joseph and Adarsh Kumar Goel asked Ansal’s to pay a total fine of Rs 60 crore in three months and deposit it with the Delhi government, which in turn will spend the money on welfare schemes. The Supreme Court in its order on Wednesday said there was no need for Ansal brothers to go to jail.

Last year, the Supreme Court found the Ansals guilty of criminal <g data-gr-id="33">negligence,</g> and indicted the Ansal brothers for being “more interested in making money” than in ensuring the security of their customers; however, judges differed on how much jail time they merited. “Can the money ever be a substitute for losing your children?” Krishnamurthy <g data-gr-id="31">said,</g> while her voice shaking with emotion.

The Supreme Court on March 5, <g data-gr-id="36">2014</g> had upheld the conviction of Gopal and Sushil Ansal. A total of 59 people were killed and 100 injured when a huge fire broke out at Uphaar cinema hall. The fire started in the parking lot and then engulfed the building in the busy Green Park area. Most of the people were killed in <g data-gr-id="35">stampede</g>.

A Bench of Justices T S Thakur and Gyan Sudha Mishra (since retired) on March 5, <g data-gr-id="48">2014</g> had held real estate barons <g data-gr-id="47">guilty,</g> but had differed on <g data-gr-id="46">quantum</g> of sentence to be awarded to them. It had concurred in finding that there was <g data-gr-id="43">contemptuous</g> disregard of civic laws on the part of Ansals that led to the tragedy as they were more interested in making money than ensuring <g data-gr-id="44">safety</g> of people. 

Justice Thakur concurred with the 2008 verdict of the Delhi High Court that had awarded <g data-gr-id="42">one year</g> jail terms to Sushil and Gopal Ansal. However, Justice Mishra reduced the jail term of Sushil considering his age and enhanced the sentence of Gopal to two years.