Supreme Court seeks Delhi govt response on delay in building trauma centre in memory of Uphaar victims

The Supreme Court on May 7 sought the Delhi government's response on the status of a trauma centre that the Court had earlier ordered to be built in memory of the victims of the Uphaar cinema fire tragedy [Association of Victims of Uphaar Tragedy vs. Sushil Ansal and Ors]..A bench comprising Justice Surya Kant and Justice N K Singh has also issued notice in the matter to the Ansal brothers, who were convicted in the Uphaar tragedy case..Notably, in 2015, the Supreme Court had spared the Ansal brothers further jail time but fined them ₹30 crore each to fund a trauma centre in memory of the 59 victims who died in the 1997 fire accident.This trauma facility was supposed to be constructed within two years. However, since this was yet to be done, the Association of Victims of Uphaar Tragedy (AVUT) moved a plea before the Supreme Court for the enforcement of its earlier directive. The AVUT has claimed that though the Ansal brothers had deposited the fine with the Delhi government, there has been little progress in the trauma centre's construction. The Court yesterday directed that the Delhi government, through its Chief Secretary, be impleaded as an additional respondent in the matter and sought the government's response. Notice has also been ordered to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The matter is listed for further hearing on July 16. .The Uphaar cinema tragedy occurred on June 13, 1997, when a fire broke out during a film screening, killing 59 people and injuring over 100 due to inadequate safety measures. The incident led to the conviction of cinema owners Sushil and Gopal Ansal for negligence.In March 2014, a Division Bench of Justices TS Thakur and Gyan Sudha Misra held Ansal brothers guilty of culpable homicide not amounting to murder.While Justice Thakur sentenced them to one year imprisonment, Justice Gyan Sudha Mishra enhanced the sentence to two years with the rider that the enhanced sentence could be avoided by paying a fine of ₹50 crore each. Taking into account Sushil’s age, Justice Mishra also held that he will be exempted from imprisonment if he pays the fine of ₹50 crore. Due to the difference of opinion between the two judges on the sentence awarded, the case was referred to a three-judge bench to decide on the limited question of punishment..In August 2015, the Supreme Court's three-judge bench ruled that the Ansal brothers need not serve additional imprisonment beyond the time already served. However, the Court imposed a ₹30 crore fine on each convict, to be deposited with the Delhi government for constructing a trauma centre in memory of the 59 victims within two years.However, as per AVUT, though the fine was deposited with the Office of the Chief Secretary, government of Delhi in November 2015, nearly 10 years have passed, and no noticeable progress has been made in building the trauma centre as directed by the Court.Therefore, AVUT moved supreme Court seeking the Court to direct the government of NCT of Delhi to comply with this Court's 2015 directives, by completing the construction of the trauma centre at Dwarka in a time-bound manner..Advocates Diksha Rai, Atiga Singh, Piyush Vyas and Purvat Wali appeared for AVUT..[Read Order]