The long wait of the two Ansal brothers, charged for negligence in the Uphaar cinema hall fire tragedy case, ended on Friday after the SC granted them bail.
The long wait of the two Ansal brothers, charged for negligence in the Uphaar cinema hall fire tragedy case, ended on Friday after the Supreme Court granted them bail.
Just three months ago the court had refused to take their application for hearing.
A lower court in Delhi found Sushil and Gopal Ansal guilty of negligence in the Uphaar tragedy for failing to maintain safety in the hall and sentenced them to two years in jail. A fire engulfed the entire theatre on March 13, 1997, killing 59 and injuring over a 100.
But the Delhi high court later reduced the sentence to one year.
On Friday, a bench headed by Justice SB Sinha granted bail to the duo on a personal bond of Rs 10,000 each. It also issued notices on the cross appeals filed by the Ansal brothers and the Association of the Victims of the Uphaar Tragedy (Avut), people who lost their dear ones in the tragedy, challenging the one year sentence imposed on the accused by the Delhi high court.
“Where is the justice in this?” asked Neelam Krishnamoorti, who lost her two children in the tragedy. She also heads the association (Avut) started by family members of the victims.
“The court had earlier reduced their sentence from two to one year and now they have been let off on bail. These two had killed 59 people and they have got just one year imprisonment,” said Krishnamoorti after hearing the judgement of the court.
Investigations in the tragedy found that the Ansals had flouted norms. Without taking prior permission they had had increased 52 seats in the balcony. As a result, emergency exits were blocked and people could not escape during the fire.
The brothers had also not made arrangements for upkeep of the theatre’s transformer, which caused the fire. Although many people seated in the front row managed to escape, the worst affected were those seated in the balcony as they were trapped.
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