[Uphaar Cinema Tragedy] Delhi High Court issues notice in Ansal brothers' appeal for suspension of sentence

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday issued notice in a petition filed by Gopal and Sunil Ansal challenging a trial court order which had declined to suspend their seven-year sentence for evidence tampering in connection with the 1997 Uphaar Cinema fire tragedy (Sushil Ansal vs. State of NCT of Delhi)..Justice Subramonium Prasad issued notice in the appeal and ordered,"Petitioners seek to challenge order dated November 8, 2021, whereby the Ld. Chief Metropolitan Magistrate sentenced them to 7 years imprisonment and a 2.25 crore fine each, for offences under Sections 409,120B and 201 of the IPC. Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi contends that the petitioner cannot be imprisoned for 7 years under these offences. Issue notice.".Upon being informed by the State that one of the Ansal Brothers was 83 years of age and had suffered two blackouts in jail, the Court directed that a medical report be filed after examining the petitioners.The matter will be heard next in the first week of January 2022.Senior Advocates Mukul Rohatgi, Siddharth Aggarwal and N Hariharan, along with Advocate PK Dubey appeared for the Ansal brothers. Meanwhile, Senior Advocate Dayan Krishnan appeared for the State and Senior Advocate Vikas Pahwa represented the complainant, Association of the Victims of Uphaar Tragedy (AVUT)..Earlier this month, the Ansal brothers had moved a plea for suspension of sentence before the Patiala House Sessions Court. However, the same was dismissed by Additional Session Judge Anil Antil, who noted in his order that there was "no prima facie illegality or impropriety" in the sentencing judgment or the conviction order. "Presumption of innocence will not apply post conviction," Antil also added..Last month, a Delhi court sentenced the Ansal brothers to seven years' imprisonment and a ₹2.25 crore fine each, for tampering with evidence in the Uphaar Cinema fire tragedy case."The foundation of judiciary is premised on the trust and confidence of the people and any action which is aimed to thwart it is required to be dealt with the utmost strictness," the Court of Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) had ordered in this case.Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Pankaj Sharma had noted in the sentencing order,“It is noteworthy that too lenient sentence would be akin to closing the eyes to the agony and anguish of the victim and the public at large. Collective cry of the society must be responded by way of appropriate punishment to prevent re-occurrence of such crimes.” The case arose from a devastating fire that took place at the Uphaar Cinema on June 13, 1997, that took 59 lives and left several people injured..Uphaar Tragedy: Delhi court dismisses Ansal brothers' plea for suspension of sentence