A Delhi court on Tuesday issued non-bailable warrants against the accused in the Uphaar cinema hall fire case – Sushil Ansal and Gopal Ansal – for allegedly tampering with evidence, PTI reported. The court was hearing a petition filed by Neelam Krishnamoorthy, whose two children were among 59 people killed in the fire in 1997.
The petitioner requested Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Deepak Sherawat to bring forward the date of the hearing, citing that the case has already been delayed. She had sought compliance of the Delhi High Court order directing the hearing of the matter three times a week.
On June 13, 1997, during the screening of Bollywood film Border, a fire broke out at 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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