1997 Uphaar cinema fire: Court upholds conviction of Ansal brothers for evidence tampering
The Hindu
New Delhi A Delhi court on July 17 upheld the conviction of real estate tycoons Sushil and Gopal Ans
A Delhi court on July 17 upheld the conviction of real estate tycoons Sushil and Gopal Ansal for tampering with evidence in a case related to the 1997 Uphaar cinema fire, which had claimed 59 lives.
District Judge Dharmesh Sharma dismissed the appeal filed by real estate barons and two others challenging their conviction by a magisterial court.
The court will hear arguments on the quantum of punishment on July 19.
The court, however, acquitted one co-accused, Anup Singh, in the case and granted him bail.
A magisterial court had convicted and awarded 7-year jail terms to Ansals in the case, besides imposing a fine of ₹2.25 crore on each of them.
Besides Ansals, the court had also awarded 7-year jail terms to former court staff Dinesh Chand Sharma and two others — P.P. Batra and Anoop Singh — and had imposed a fine of three lakh rupees each on them.
The case is related to tampering with the evidence in the main fire tragedy case in which the Ansals were convicted and sentenced to a 2-year jail term by the Supreme Court.