The Delhi High Court on Friday upheld an earlier verdict sentencing Ansal brothers, the owners of Uphaar cinema, guilty of criminal negligence in relation to the 1997 fire tragedy but reduced their jail terms from two to one year.
The court was hearing a review petition filed by the Ansals, who had challenged their conviction. Justice S Ravinder, however, rejected the plea of the Association of Victims of Uphaar Tragedy (AVUT) to enhance the jail term awarded by a lower court.
The verdict pronounced Gopal and Sushil Ansal guilty of criminal negligence which was earlier set forth on November 20 last year with two years of imprisonment. After their appeal, the Ansals and two others were granted bail on January 4, 2008 by the Delhi High Court.
The Supreme Court, however, came up quashing the bail decision on September 10 this year and ordered for their immediate arrest. The apex court had also refused to review an application filed by the Ansal brothers seeking reconsideration of their bail cancellation.
In its latest ruling, the High Court also maintained the conviction of four others but equally reduced their sentence. The jail term of Brij Mohan Satija, Bir Singh (both DVB officials) and Manmoham Unniyal (gatekeeper of the cinema hall) were reduced from seven to two years while a Delhi Fire Service Staff H S Panwar’s sentence was reduced from two to one year.
The five other accused – Uphaar cinema managers Radhakrishan Sharma, N S Chopra; DVB official A K Ghera; MCD officials S S Sharma and N D Tiwari – were acquitted by the High Court.
However, the proceeding against another theatre manager Ajit Chowdhary, who was convicted under Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and sentenced to seven years in jail, was dropped following his death in Tihar jail.
The theatre was engulfed in fire when an overheated transformer burst in the basement of the building which claimed 59 lives and left over 100 injured in the Uphaar cinema hall.
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