Uphaar theatre owners Sushil and Gopal Ansal were among 12 accused convicted by a court here on Tuesday in the 1997 cinema hall fire tragedy case which claimed 59 lives.

The Ansals were held guilty under Section 304 A (causing death by rash and negligent act) and some other provisions of the IPC pertaining to endangering human lives by causing hurt. The court also held the Ansal brothers guilty of violating the Cinematography Act.

Besides Ansals, Additional Sessions Judge Mamta Sehgal convicted two MCD officials Shyam Sunder Sharma and N D Tiwari and a Delhi fire service officer H S Panwar for causing death by negligent act under other similar provisions of the IPC.

Ansals and other accused, held guilty under Section 304 A of the IPC face a maximum imprisonment of two years along with a fine.

The court, however, found the charges against three managers, one gate-keeper of the theatre and three Delhi Vidyut Board officials graver than the other accused and held them guilty for the offence of culpable homicide not amounting to murder under Section 304 of the IPC. These seven convicts may get a maximum sentence of life term under the provision.

Punishment today
The court would pronounce the quantum of punishment for all the 12 convicts on Tuesday.

A total of 16 persons including the theatre owners, were initially named as accused in the case.

Four accused, however, died during the prolonged trial, which was expedited following the Delhi High Court direction to conclude the hearing by August 2007.

The trial, in which the CBI examined 115 witnesses, including eight relatives of Ansals, who had turned hostile, also witnessed some controversy when a court staff was dismissed.

The relatives of the victims joined hands to form a body — the Association of Victims of Uphaar Tragedy (AUVT), to fight the legal battle which went to the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court.

The pronouncement of the much-awaited verdict had earlier been deferred twice by the court which had said that the case was cumbersome. The CBI, which was handed over the investigation from Delhi Police, had contended that the hall owners were criminally negligent in the management of the theatre.

A fire had broken out in the theatre during screening of Hindi film Border from the DVB transformer installed on the ground floor leading to the death of 59 people due to asphyxia.

Ansals had then claimed that they were not the owners of the theatre and they were coerced by the DVB to allow the installation of the transformer in the cinema hall premises.

‘TRAVESTY OF JUSTICE’
New Delhi, PTI: Terming the verdict in the 10-year-old Uphaar fire tragedy case as a “travesty of justice”, the victims’ kin on Tuesday expressed their intention to move the Delhi High Court against the conviction of Ansal brothers under provisions of law which invite “lighter punishment”.

Gopal and Sushil Ansal, the owners of Uphaar cinema, where 59 people were killed in 1997, were convicted by a court here for causing death by a negligent act. The offence carries a maximum punishment of two years of imprisonment. The punishment would be pronounced on Tuesday.

The victims’ family members said that even if the accused were awarded the maximum penalty of two years, it would not suffice.

“Even if the punishment comes to two years, it would roughly work out to 12 days (of imprisonment) per deceased,” said Neelam Krishnamurthy heading the Association of Victims of Uphaar Tragedy (AVUT).