The High Court has asked Delhi Police to respond to the petition filed by real estate developer Sushil Ansal that challenges his conviction in a case of tampering with evidence in the 1997 Uphaar Cinema fire tragedy.
Sushil Ansal completed his jail term in this case pertaining to the fire incident on June 13, 1997, that left 59 dead. Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav issued notice to the Delhi Police on the 83-year-old Ansal’s petition and listed the matter for further hearing on December 13.
The High court was hearing two separate pleas ‘ one by Sushil Ansal challenging his conviction and sentence and another by the Association of Victims of Uphaar Tragedy seeking enhancement of the punishment awarded to the convicts in the evidence tampering case.
The case is related to tampering with the evidence in the main fire tragedy case, in which the Ansals were convicted and sentenced to a two-year jail term by the Supreme Court in August 2015. The tampering was detected for the first time on July 20, 2002, and a Departmental inquiry was initiated.
A local court had on November 8, 2021, awarded seven-year jail terms to the real estate barons. However, a court had on July 19, 2022, modified the local court’s order on sentence and ordered the release of Sushil and Gopal Ansal, former court staff Dinesh Chandra Sharma and Ansal’s then employee Batra against their already undergone jail term since November 8, 2021.
The High court nevertheless issued a bailable warrant against Ansal’s then employee P P Batra, who was also convicted in the same case, as neither he nor any lawyer on his behalf was present in the court.
(The writer is CEO, Track2Realty)
