Neelam Krishnamoorthy, who lost two of her children in Uphaar tragedy, has been fighting for justice for last 18 years
"I spent 13 years with my son and 17 (years) with my daughter, but in this case I've spent 18 long years to get justice for my children," says Neelam Krishnamoorthy, her voice choking with emotion.
Not a day has gone by since June 13, 1997 when she hasn't felt the pain of losing both her teenaged children in the fire at Uphaar Cinema.
59 people died there, 23 of them children at the cinema hall in South Delhi.
But her fight continues.
The Ansal brothers, Sushil and Gopal, owners of the cinema hall were convicted by the Supreme Court in March 2014; but more than a year later, the top court has still not decided on the quantum of their punishment.
"In our courts, there is low priority for victims and high priority for accused... it's evident," says Mrs. Krishnamoorthy. "When there was a dissent in Jayalalithaa's case, a three judge bench was constituted in no time, whereas in Uphaar case, there has been no 3 judge bench."
This isn't an isolated case, as more than 60,000 cases are pending in the Supreme Court alone.
Another example is the case of journalist Soumya Viswanathan, who was shot dead while returning home from work on September 30, 2008. 7 years later, the case is still in a trial court, for want of a public prosecutor.
Soumya's mother, Madhavi Vishwanathan says, "Often delay is claimed by accused as ground for lesser punishment. So, in the end who gets punished? Us... for what? For losing our daughter?"
Former Chief Justice of Jharkhand High Court Justice M. Karpavinayagam said, "The impression that justice is not equal to all and only VIPs get preference must be erased."
The Supreme Court has put in place more benches to tackle the growing pendency, but till that has a visible impact for families who have lost their loved ones, the long drawn legal fight is itself a punishment.