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Hindustan Times
4 days ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Delhi court allows Uphaar victims to assist police in prosecuting realtor in passport renewal case
NEW DELHI A Delhi court has allowed 1997 Uphaar fire tragedy victims to assist the Delhi Police in prosecuting realtor Sushil Ansal in a case accusing him of fraudulently getting his passport renewed. (Shutterstock) A Delhi court has allowed 1997 Uphaar fire tragedy victims to assist the Delhi Police in prosecuting realtor Sushil Ansal in a case accusing him of fraudulently getting his passport renewed. The order was passed by chief judicial magistrate Shriya Agrawal of the Patiala House Court on Monday, allowing a plea moved by Association of Victims of Uphaar Tragedy (AVUT) under Section 302 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), which allows a court to grant permission—other than to a police officer below the rank of Inspector— to conduct the prosecution in a case. The section essentially ensures that a complainant could participate in the prosecution through their counsel and assist the prosecutor, representing the police. The court said, '…it is observed that the association at the instance of which, the law was set into motion in the present case ought to get a right of assisting the prosecution, to which liberty, there is no bar in law…as opposed to being given the reigns of the prosecution itself, the Association is at liberty to assist the prosecution in the present case'. Sushil Ansal, 77, one of the convicts in the case pertaining to the Uphaar fire mishap, is also accused of getting his passport renewed by concealing his criminal antecedents and not obtaining the requisite no-objection certificate from the court. Following a writ petition filed by AVUT in the Delhi High Court, a case of cheating was lodged by the Delhi Police Crime Branch in 2019. In November 2007, a decade after the tragedy that killed 59 people, a trial court convicted realty tycoons Gopal Ansal and his brother Sushil Ansal, among others, and sentenced them to two years in prison, the maximum sentence the law provides for causing death due to negligence under Section 304A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). In December 2008, the Delhi High Court upheld the conviction but reduced the sentence to one year. In February 2017, the Supreme Court directed the two of them to pay a fine of ₹30 crore each, for the construction of a trauma centre. While Sushil, who spent a little over five months in jail, was let off for the period already served on account of his age (then 77), then 68-year-old Gopal Ansal was directed to undergo one year of imprisonment. In July 2022, a Delhi court convicted the brothers in another case pertaining to the fire, related to tampering with and destroying evidence. The brothers were let off by the court in the case for the period already served by them during the pendency of the case. The case pertaining to passport forgery, where only Sushil Ansal stands as an accused, is currently at the stage of arguments on framing of charges at the Patiala House Courts. In its plea, AVUT, led by Neelam Krishnamoorthy, who lost her two children in the tragedy, represented by senior advocate Vikas Pahwa, highlighted that the victims had been at the forefront of the battle for justice and had closely tracked and assisted all hearings in the previous two cases against the Ansals. The plea also pointed out several grievances in the Delhi Police's investigation and filing of the charge sheet. Meanwhile, Sushil, through his Advocate Gautam Khazanchi, opposed the plea, stating that AVUT had no locus standi to address arguments on charge and prosecute Ansal as they were mere complainants.
Time of India
08-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Delhi HC issues notice to police on Gopal Ansal's plea to quash FIR
NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Monday issued a notice to police on a plea moved by real estate baron Gopal Ansal , convicted in the Uphaar fire tragedy case, for quashing an FIR lodged against him in a cheating case. The FIR has been lodged on a complaint filed by a buyer of land in a project developed by Ansal Buildwell Limited. Justice Amit Mahajan issued notice to Delhi Police and sought a status report. The matter has been listed for hearing on September 10. The High Court has also directed the state not to take coercive steps against the petitioner till the next date of hearing. The bench has also issued a notice to the complainant in the matter upon the filing of the amended memos of the parties. Gopal Ansal has filed a petition seeking quashing of the FIR registered on February 11, 2025, at Police Station Barakhamba Road for the offences under Sections 420, 406, 120B of the Indian Penal Code. The said FIR was registered on a complaint given by Manoj Anand, alleging that he had paid a sum of Rs 3,56,000 regarding the purchase of certain land in a project being developed by the accused's company, Ansal Buildwell Limited. Gopal Ansal is stated to be the director of the accused company at the relevant time. It is alleged that no property was ever handed over to the complainant, Anand, the High Court noted. Advocate Sushil Kumar Gupta, counsel for Gopal Ansal, submitted that the project could not see the light of day since the Jaipur Development Authority did not give permission to convert the status of the land. He submitted that various letters were written to the complainant for a refund of money. However, no response was received, and the complaint has now belatedly been made after almost two decades. Upon learning this fact, the High Court also stated, "Prima facie, this Court has been unable to figure out why such an FIR after two decades was registered by the police authorities." It was also submitted that the accused company, even otherwise, had always been willing to refund the entire money with reasonable interest to the complainant. Ansal's counsel further submitted that to show his bona fide, a sum of Rs 10,00,000 shall be deposited by Anand with the Registrar General of this court within a period of four weeks. Gopal Ansal to a seven-year jail term for tampering with evidence in the 1997 case of Uphaar cinema fire which claimed 59 lives. Earlier in November 2021, a Delhi court had sentenced real estate barons Sushil and Gopal Ansal to a seven-year jail term for tampering with evidence in the 1997 case of the Uphaar cinema fire, which claimed 59 lives. The fire broke out at the Uphaar cinema during the screening of the Hindi film Border on June 13, 1997.
India Gazette
08-07-2025
- Business
- India Gazette
Delhi HC issues notice to police on Gopal Ansal's plea to quash FIR
New Delhi [India], July 8 (ANI): The Delhi High Court on Monday issued a notice to police on a plea moved by real estate baron Gopal Ansal, convicted in the Uphaar fire tragedy case, for quashing an FIR lodged against him in a cheating case. The FIR has been lodged on a complaint filed by a buyer of land in a project developed by Ansal Buildwell Limited. Justice Amit Mahajan issued notice to Delhi Police and sought a status report. The matter has been listed for hearing on September 10. The High Court has also directed the state not to take coercive steps against the petitioner till the next date of hearing. The bench has also issued a notice to the complainant in the matter upon the filing of the amended memos of the parties. Gopal Ansal has filed a petition seeking quashing of the FIR registered on February 11, 2025, at Police Station Barakhamba Road for the offences under Sections 420, 406, 120B of the Indian Penal Code. The said FIR was registered on a complaint given by Manoj Anand, alleging that he had paid a sum of Rs 3,56,000 regarding the purchase of certain land in a project being developed by the accused's company, Ansal Buildwell Limited. Gopal Ansal is stated to be the director of the accused company at the relevant time. It is alleged that no property was ever handed over to the complainant, Anand, the High Court noted. Advocate Sushil Kumar Gupta, counsel for Gopal Ansal, submitted that the project could not see the light of day since the Jaipur Development Authority did not give permission to convert the status of the land. He submitted that various letters were written to the complainant for a refund of money. However, no response was received, and the complaint has now belatedly been made after almost two decades. Upon learning this fact, the High Court also stated, 'Prima facie, this Court has been unable to figure out why such an FIR after two decades was registered by the police authorities.' It was also submitted that the accused company, even otherwise, had always been willing to refund the entire money with reasonable interest to the complainant. Ansal's counsel further submitted that to show his bona fide, a sum of Rs 10,00,000 shall be deposited by Anand with the Registrar General of this court within a period of four weeks. Gopal Ansal to a seven-year jail term for tampering with evidence in the 1997 case of Uphaar cinema fire which claimed 59 lives. Earlier in November 2021, a Delhi court had sentenced real estate barons Sushil and Gopal Ansal to a seven-year jail term for tampering with evidence in the 1997 case of the Uphaar cinema fire, which claimed 59 lives. The fire broke out at the Uphaar cinema during the screening of the Hindi film Border on June 13, 1997. (ANI)
Hindustan Times
13-06-2025
- Hindustan Times
Delhi: No trauma centre for Uphaar Cinema fire later victims, ₹60cr fine missing
Twenty-eight years after the Uphaar cinema fire claimed 59 lives and wounded over 100 others, the trauma centre promised in memory of the victims remains missing. Victims' families said the absence of the facility — despite ₹60 crore collected from Gopal Ansal and Sushil Ansal, cinema owners who were convicted in the case, nearly a decade ago — on the Supreme Court's orders underscores the indifference to justice and public safety. The trauma centre was to be built in west Delhi's Dwarka within two years of a 2015 SC directive, using fines paid by the Ansal brothers. The plan was clear: the Delhi government was to allocate at least five acres of land and construct a state-of-the-art trauma centre in one of the city's most accident-prone areas. Yet today, no foundation stone has been laid, and the ₹60 crore — now estimated to have grown to over ₹100 crore with interest — remains unaccounted for. 'For decades, we have fought a legal battle for only two things: one, to get justice for our children, and another, that the tragedy can help bring some change,' said Neelam Krishnamoorthy, whose children -- Unnati, 17, and Ujjwal, 13 -- were among the 59 who were killed in the fire in the south Delhi hall where Sunny Deol starrer Border was being screened. She leads the Association of Victims of Uphaar Tragedy (AVUT). 'We're not asking for favours. All we want is that the fine deposited by the Ansals be used to make the trauma centre, which will be very beneficial for the residents of Delhi and, in times of any incidents like this, can help save lives,' she said. 'AVUT members now fear that we are getting old, we do not know whether we will be here tomorrow or not, and so no one will be there to question the government. Hence, we are raising the issue and want the government to act on it,' she said. In a landmark judgment in August 2015, the Supreme Court, instead of sending the Ansals back to prison, ordered them to pay ₹30 crore each. The court directed the Delhi government to use this money to build a trauma facility in memory of the victims. The order called for a 'Victims of Uphaar Memorial Trauma Centre' with a dedicated burns ward and accident services. The money was deposited with the Delhi government in November 2015. Yet nearly 10 years later, the families say they have been met with silence and bureaucratic apathy. In multiple RTI queries filed in 2019 and again in 2024, departments including the Chief Secretary's office, the health ministry, the law department, and the Directorate General of Health Services responded saying that the information 'is not available' or 'does not pertain' to them. 'The state has neither allotted land nor offered any explanation,' said Shekhar Krishnamoorthy, another AVUT member who lost both children in the fire. 'We are left wondering whether anyone will be held accountable, or if time and delay will again erase the promise of justice.' AVUT has now approached the Supreme Court again, urging it to push for the implementation of its 2015 order. On April 22 this year, the court issued notice to the Delhi government, seeking a response. The next hearing is scheduled for July 16. HT reached out to an official in the chief minister's office for a response, but the official did not respond till the time of going to print. For the families, the centre is not merely symbolic. 'This is not just about memory,' Neelam said. 'This is about public health. This is about preventing the next Uphaar.'
