Uphaar fire victims' kin seek tough law for man-made tragedies

Kin of Uphaar cinema hall fire tragedy victims today held a prayer meet in New Delhi to commemorate the death of 59 people in the incident 13 years ago and demanded a tough legislation to deal with man-made tragedies like the Bhopal gas leak.

The Association of Victims of the Uphaar Tragedy (AVUT), which is fighting a legal battle in the matter, said it received a letter last year from law minister Veerappa Moily informing the body that he has asked the law commission to propose new legislation to prevent such tragedies.

"We at AVUT appeal to our policy makers to implement stringent laws to bring in deterrents and avert man-made tragedies so that precious human lives are not lost," Neelam Kirshnamoorthy, president AVUT said.

In July 2009, AVUT had given a petition to the president Pratibha Patil, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and minister for law and justice Moily for proposing a legislation to deal with any man-made tragedies in public places, she said.

"The recent fire at Bangalore and Kolkata and the June 7 judgment in the Bhopal gas tragedy have proved over and over again that for our policy makers and decision makers, human life is of little value," she alleged.

Krishnamoorthy herself lost her two children in the inferno that engulfed Uphaar theatre on June 13, 1997 in New Delhi during the screening of blockbuster Hindi film Border.

She said the offenders in such crimes are often booked for causing death due to rash and negligent acts which is a bailable offence.

"The need of the hour is to have appropriate legislation to tackle such man-made tragedies and put in place judicial mechanisms that force offenders to think twice before indulging in acts of omission and commission that can endanger human life," she said.

She expressed disappointment with the judgement of the Delhi high court in the criminal appeal in which the sentence of the accused in the case were reduced.

The Delhi high court had on December 19, last year sentenced accused Sushil Ansal, Gopal Ansal and HS Panwar, a former Delhi Fire Service staff to one-year prison term. Three others--gate keeper Manmohan Unniyal, Delhi Vidyut Board employees Brij Mohan Satija and Bir Singh--were awarded two-year jail term.

The appeal against the high court's judgement is pending in the Supreme court.