New Delhi:
The Delhi High Court on Friday pronounced the Ansal brothers guilty in the Uphaar cinema fire tragedy case.
The verdict came on an appeal filed by Uphaar cinema owners Sushil and Gopal Ansal. The appeal had challenged an earlier verdict that found them guilty of criminal negligence for a fire tragedy in the theatre in the afternoon of June 13, 1997.
Fifty-nine people, including several women and children, were killed in the devastating fire that broke out in the cinema hall's transformer in the basement during the screening of the Hindi film
Border.
Was the Uphaar cinema tragedy a man-made disaster? That's what the Delhi High Court was to decide. It's a verdict that's been 11 years in the making.
The cinema's owners, Sushil and Gopal Ansal, are currently in jail.
Like Jessica Lall or the Nitish Katara case, this is a case where everyday Delhiites have taken on a rich and powerful family.
Minutes after the interval, Uphaar cinema's balcony turned into a gas chamber. Downstairs, people poured out. But upstairs, 300 people were trapped. The only exit was bolted from outside. It took 30 minutes to break down the door, during which, people choked to death.
The fire was caused by a short circuit in a transformer outside. But evidence shows that in the balcony, the emergency lights weren't working and the smoke made it impossible to find the exit. Two exits and two aisles had been blocked to add extra 40 seats. It left just one exit at the extreme left with only one possible route of getting to it.
The cinema owners, Sushil and Gopal Ansal, did have legal permission to block the balcony's exits and aisles, but 13 months ago, a Delhi court found them guilty of criminal negligence.
Their sentence - two years in jail - not enough for the family members of those who died, like Neelam Krishnamurthy, who lost both her children in the fire.
",If you kill a black buck, you get five years in jail, but for killing 59 people you are punished for just two years. That amounts to 12 days in jail for killing each person,", said Neelam.
After they appealed in the High Court against their guilty verdict, the Ansals were granted bail. It took the Supreme Court to change that, ordering their arrest for allegedly destroying evidence, including documents that have gone missing from court.