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Uphaar tragedy: SC agrees to hear review petition

Ansal brothers on August 19, 2014, had 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 months' time and restricted their jail term to the period already undergone by them.

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Four months after they were allowed to walk free after paying Rs 60 crore in the name of victims, the Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear the review plea filed by the Association of Victims of Uphaar Tragedy (AVUT) seeking jail term for the theatre owners Sushil and his brother Gopal Ansal.

Passing a short order, a three-judge bench headed by Justice Anil R Dave agreed to hear the review plea in an open court. The detailed order is yet to be made public and the court is yet to fix a date to hear the plea.
The review petition was filed by the CBI and Uphaar Victims' Association.

Ansal brothers on August 19, 2014, had 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 months' time and restricted their jail term to the period already undergone by them.

The court, which had passed the order on the plea against Delhi High Court's verdict reducing their sentence from two years to one year jail term, had considered the old age of the developers and granted them the relief.

Being upset over the court's decision, senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for CBI in the case since its trial stage in 2000, had approached the court to hear him for 15 minutes to advance his arguments on the quantum of sentence against the real estate developers.

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

Soon after the verdict in August last year, the victims had said the CBI was not heard by the court before passing the judgment since Salve was not available in the court. Ram Jethmalani was allowed to argue on behalf of the accused at length for several days but the court had pronounced its decision without hearing CBI counsel, the victims alleged.

While Sushil Ansal had spent over five months in prison, Gopal Ansal 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'.

The trial court had sentenced the duo to two years' rigorous imprisonment in November 2007. But in December 2008, the Delhi High Court had reduced their sentence to one year.

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