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Uphaar case: Gopal Ansal asked to surrender, SC refuses to give him more time

Senior lawyer Ram Jethmalani appeared for Gopal Ansal in the apex court today.

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The Supreme Court on Monday asked Gopal Ansal to surrender in Uphaar fire tragedy case, refusing his plea asking for more time.

The apex court told senior lawyer Ram Jethmalani, who appeared for Ansal, to ask the real estate baron to undergo the rest of his jail term.

Earlier on March 9, SC dismissed Ansal's plea and asked him to surrender by March 20. Ansal had filed an application in Supreme Court seeking to extend the time to surrender for serving the one-year jail term. But, SC dismissed his plea to let him off with undergone sentence in parity with elder brother Sushil Ansal.

The Supreme Court had earlier refused to extend the deadline for Gopal's surrender in the 1997 tragedy. 

Gopal was seeking relief similar to the one given to his elder brother Sushil, whose jail term was waived off due to advanced age-related complications. However, the Association of Victims of Uphaar Tragedy (AVUT) has moved the top court seeking modification of the order sentencing Sushil to the period already undergone by him in jail.

Founder of the AVUT Neelam Krishnamoorthy, asserted that Gopal has been trying to delay the process of surrendering from a very long time. "For the last ten days, Ansal has been trying to delay and derail the process of surrendering. Whenever his date comes for surrendering, he makes an excuse to seek extension," Neelam told ANI. 

"As parents we have fought to get justice and after doing so much we have to face such hurdles. People like them with power and money can easily take advantage and change dates every time," she added while expressing anguish over the matter.

The AVUT has also claimed that the Ansal brothers were healthy and in a good condition to travel abroad, suggesting that they are not suffering from any medical complications to warrant any indulgence from the top court. 

At least 59 people died of asphyxia and over 100 others were injured in the stampede after fire broke out in Uphaar cinema on June 13, 1997, during the screening of JP Dutta's film Border. 

With ANI inputs

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