Supreme Court declines Harish Salve's plea for further hearing in Uphaar case

A day after the Supreme Court allowed the 1997 Uphaar fire tragedy convicts Sushil and Gopal Ansal to walk free after paying Rs 60 crore as fine, senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for CBI, made an emotional appeal to the apex court to hear him for 15 minutes to advance his argument on the quantum of sentence against the real estate developers.

The court, however, disallowed the former solicitor general's plea saying, "CBI can file a review against the court's verdict."

Visibly upset over the court's decision, Salve urgently mentioned at 10.30am in a jam-packed courtroom seeking the bench headed by Justice Anil R Dave to hear him sometime in the afternoon by exercising the court's special powers guaranteed under the Constitution in the interest of justice.

"I have been doing this case pro-bono since 2000. Please grant us 15 minutes time from 3.45 to 4 pm today. There were certain aspects that we could not argue. Give us some more time…. If the court is not convinced, then throw us out," Salve said.

Flanked by his associate lawyers and victims, the noted constitutional expert said, "Court has extraordinary powers under Article 142 of the Constitution to issue any orders in the interest of justice and hence CBI should be given one more opportunity before the detailed judgment was released."

He further submitted that he never expected that the court could sum up the hearing on the quantum sentence against the accused same day and that he should be allowed to argue and place some important facts to satisfy the court.

Salve has been appearing for CBI as special counsel since the matter was at trial stage. In fact on Wednesday, the court allowed his junior to place the arguments as he was not available in the court when the CBI's turn came.

Soon after the verdict, the victims said CBI was not heard by the court before passing the judgment sine Salve was not available in the court. In the morning, noted Jurist Ram Jethmalani's argument proceeded long and CBI should have been given equal time.

The bench, also comprising Justices Kurian Joseph and Adarsh Kumar Goel, did not allow Salve's submission and asked him to file a review petition with all the points which have been left out.

"We have already pronounced our order and fresh hearing can't be granted. You file review petition against our order. Your remedy lies in the review petition. You file petition seeking review of our order and we will consider your grievances. You can raise this plea and other issues also in your review," the bench told Salve. Salve accepted the court's suggestion.

Ansal brothers on Wednesday escaped being jailed in the 18-year-old gruesome Uphaar Cinema fire case with the apex court asking them to pay a fine of Rs 30 crore each in three month time and restricting their jail term to the period already undergone by them.

While Sushil had spent over five months in prison, Gopal was in jail for over four months immediately after the tragedy.

At least 59 people, including women and children, trapped in the balcony of the theater in South Delhi, had died of asphyxia following the fire and over 100 were injured in the subsequent stampede on June 13, 1997 during the screening of Bollywood film "Border".

Earlier, a bench of justices T S Thakur and Gyan Sudha Mishra (since retired) had on March 5, 2014, held real estate barons Sushil and Gopal Ansal guilty, but differed on the quantum of sentence to be awarded to them.

Meanwhile, Association of Victims of Uphaar Tragedy's (AVUT) Convener Neelam Krishnamoorthy, who lost her daughter Unnati (17) and son Ujwal (13) in the June 13, 1997 incident and had been leading the legal battle for the victims, said that they would continue fighting against the verdict.

She told dna that the victims' association will meet Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday morning. They will urge him not to accept Rs 60 crore that Ansals need to pay for constructions of a trauma centre.