Uphaar Tragedy: Delhi High Court reserves order on plea by Sushil Ansal to stay release of Netflix series Trial By Fire

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday reserved its order on a plea filed by Sushil Ansal, who was convicted in the 1997 Uphaar Cinema fire case, to stay the release of Trial By Fire, a Netflix series based on the tragedy that killed nearly 60 people. [Sushil Ansal v. Endemol India Pvt Ltd].Justice Yashwant Varma heard the arguments and reserved the order..In his suit, filed through Advocates Gautam Khazanchi, Kumar Vaibhaw, Somaya Gupta and Sukanya Joshi, Ansal said that the series was defamatory and infringed on his right to privacy.The suit stated that Ansal has been punished both legally and socially for his association with the Uphaar Tragedy and that his family had also suffered extensively.He said that he had apologised to the victims' families for the tragedy and had expressed deep remorse, but ought not to be made perpetually liable to be rebuked by the public time and again, especially after having served his sentence.Ansal argued that his portrayal in the trailer and teaser of the Netflix series has the propensity to cause further immense and irreparable harm to his reputation and right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution of India..Appearing for Ansal, Senior Advocate Siddharth Aggarwal argued that the characterization of his client in the movie, not being based on public records, was prejudicial to his reputation and sought for the movie to be screened by the Court. "The only way to find out whether my fears are unfounded is the screening of the movie for your lordships to see...both, the teaser and the trailer, as well as the book, indicate clearly that this movie is about how I am a mass murderer and not what I've been found guilty of," he said..Senior Advocate Rajiv Nayar, representing Netflix, pointed out that the injunction was sought by Ansal on the basis of the statements in the book on which the film is based. He referred to the disclaimer which states that the series is a work of fiction."The allegation is based on the book...Can we speculate what the film will be? Can we speculate in light of the disclaimer I've taken?" he asked..Also appearing for Netflix, Senior Advocate Amit Sibal added that the matter was of public interest as it was publicly announced that a web series will be made, and that the book was published three years before the announcement..The show, which is based on a 2016 book titled Trial by Fire: The Tragic Tale of the Uphaar Fire Tragedy, written by Neelam and Shekhar Krishnamoorthy, is set to stream on Netflix on January 13..Uphaar Fire Tragedy: The mother who still finds strength from children she lost two decades ago.Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.