The Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked the Ministry of External Affairs to conduct an inquiry after the passport of real estate baron Sushil Ansal was renewed, PTI reported. Sushil Ansal and his brother Gopal Ansal have been convicted in the 1997 Uphaar cinema fire case.
Justice Najmi Waziri noted that Ansal was issued additional booklets for his passport despite his conviction. The counsel for Neelam Krishnamoorthy, the chairperson the Association of Victims of Uphaar Tragedy, told the High Court that Ansal had made a false declaration and suppressed facts about his conviction. She also accused Ansal of holding two passports, which were issued and renewed without the proper procedure.
“It is a matter of record that Sushil Ansal has never taken a no objection for either issuance of a fresh passport or renewal of his existing passport from any of the courts in the last 21 years,” The Hindu reported last month, quoting from her plea.
In September, the High Court sought replies from the Centre, the Delhi government and the Chief Passport Officer, and Ansal on the matter.
On June 13, 1997, during the screening of Bollywood film Border, a fire broke out in Uphaar cinema hall in Delhi’s Green Park locality. The fire killed 59 people and injured around 100. Most of the victims died of suffocation, while several others sustained injuries in the stampede that ensued. During the investigation, it was revealed that the cinema hall authorities had blocked the exit doors to add more seats.
In 2015, a trial court convicted the Ansal brothers but spared them a jail term due to their age. They were fined Rs 30 crore each. In February 2017, the Supreme Court sent Gopal Ansal to jail for one year but spared Sushil Ansal.
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