In a major setback to the families of the June 1997 Uphaar theatre fire tragedy victims, the Supreme Court on Thursday nearly halved the sum of compensation awarded to them by the Delhi high court and slashed punitive damages to be paid by cinema owners Ansal brothers from Rs2.5 crore to Rs25 lakh.
A bench headed by Justice R V Raveendran reduced the amount of compensation from Rs18 lakh to Rs10 lakh to the families of deceased above 20 years of age and for the victims below 20 years, it was reduced to Rs7.5 lakh from Rs15 lakh.
The bench also drastically reduced the punitive damages to be paid by Uphaar Cinema owners, Ansal brothers -- Gopal and Sushil, to the Centre from Rs 2.5 crore to Rs 25 lakh.
While holding Ansals and erstwhile Delhi Vidyut Board (DVB) as jointly and severally liable to pay the damages, the court asked Ansals to pay 85% of the compensation. The rest would be paid by DVB, it added.
The bench modified the high court's order of April 24, 2003 in which the court awarded a total compensation of Rs18.5 crore.
The apex court also absolved Municipal Corporation of Delhi and Delhi Police of their liabilities to bear 15% each of the compensation.
The court, however, retained the part of the high court's verdict that mandated payment of Rs1 lakh as compensation to those injured in the incident, in which 59 people were killed and 103 injured on June 13, 1997, during the maiden show of blockbuster Border.
