Thrilled to see justice by SC
The Ansal brothers, real estate barons who built and operated Delhi's Uphaar cinema, are guilty of causing death due to negligence and one of them must go to jail within four weeks, the Supreme Court ruled today.
Gopal Ansal has reportedly been given a year-long sentence; he has been given a month to surrender and be moved to prison, judges said. Sushil Ansal will not be jailed because of his age, they said.
In 2007, a fire at the cinema left 59 people dead. Most of them choked to death after being trapped in the balcony. Basic fire safety rules had been broken - exit routes had been blocked to add more seats. The incident happened during the screening of Bollywood movie 'Border' at the cinema located in south Delhi's Green Park area. Over 100 people were also injured in the subsequent stampede.
In 2015, the Supreme Court ruled that the Ansals would not be jailed though the charges against them merited a two-year term; instead, they were fined 30 crores each. Judges said that the men had spent a few months in prison after being convicted by a lower court, and that, combined with their age, was grounds for not imprisoning them again. The CBI, which investigated the case, then asked the Supreme Court to reconsider its decision. The campaign against the Ansals has been led by Neelam Krishnamurthy, whose young son and daughter died in the fire.
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