Ansals get bail, stay out of jail

Uphaar fire victims’ families express outrage

NEW DELHI: A city court on Friday sentenced Sushil and Gopal Ansal to two years in jail but immediately released them on interim bail with a surety of Rs25,000 in the Uphaar fire case. Family members of the 59 people killed in the 1997 fire at the theatre owned by the Ansal brothers said their 10-year struggle to get the guilty punished had failed.

There was high drama at the court complex and the police had to cordon off the entire area to ensure the safety of the 12 accused as the kin of the victims tried to assault the convicts soon after the sentence was announced.
  
“We had though that we would get justice but all efforts have failed. The court should have at least sent the Ansal brothers to jail even if it was for a few days,” said Payal Bhalla, who lost her father in the fire.

“We would have been happy even if these two culprits would have stayed in jail, even if for a day,” said Surender Kochar, who lost four members of his family.

Two Delhi municipal corporation officials  and a Delhi Fire Service personnel who got two-year jail terms were also granted bail.

Seven others – four employees of the theatre and three Delhi electricity board officials — held guilty for culpable homicide not amounting to murder, were sentenced to seven years rigorous imprisonment and taken into custody.

The court also asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to start investigations against Amod Kanth who was then deputy commissioner of police (licensing). “They should also find out the grounds on which the license [for running the theatre] was issued for such a long period,” the bench said.

The fire broke out at the Uphaar theatre on March 13, 1997, while the film Border was running. Though most of the people seated in the front row managed to escape, those seated in the balcony were trapped. The Ansals had increased 52 sets in the balcony as a result of which emergency exits were blocked and people could not escape.