Uphaar evidence case: HC order on Ansals' plea against jail term on Wednesday

New Delhi, Feb 15 The Delhi High Court would pass an order on Wednesday on the plea filed by real estate barons Sushil and Gopal Ansal against their seven-year sentence in the Uphaar tragedy evidence tampering case.

In the last hearing on January 27, Justice Subramonium Prasad had reserved the order after hearing the arguments of counsel for convicts and for the victims of the Uphaar tragedy.

On November 8, 2021, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Patiala House Court, Dr. Pankaj Sharma, had sentenced Ansals to seven years imprisonment besides imposing a fine of Rs 2.25 crore on both in the evidence tampering case.

During the course of the hearing on January 27, the bench said: "We will try to pronounce the judgment on the petition before the date of hearing in the trial court. If, in any case, it is not pronounced by then, I will direct the trial court to continue the hearing on appeals."

Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for the Ansals, submitted that no judicial system considers the primary conviction as final.

"There is a need to adopt a larger view and not a tactical one... it was alleged that I delayed the trial which is not true. We had challenged the summoning order on the charge, even during that period, trial was not stayed," he said.

He submitted with regards to the allegations related to the conspiracy of tampering with evidence, "there is no direct evidence of tampering. The only ground was that I would be the beneficiary of delay".

"If all the documents were intact and exhibited before the court, then what led to this delay is questionable," he added.

On January 11, the Delhi Police had told the High Court that Ansals cannot take advantage of their old age in their plea seeking suspension of their jail terms.

On June 13, 1997, halfway through the screening of Hindi film "Border", a fire broke out in the Uphaar cinema, located in Green Park in south Delhi, killing 59 people in one of the worst tragedies in the country.

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