Delhi HC asks Ansals to reply to victims' plea on enhancing punishment

The Delhi High Court on Monday sought the reply of real estate tycoons Sushil and Gopal Ansal who were released against the jail term already undergone by them since November 8 2021 on a plea by the victims seeking enhancement of the punishment for tampering with evidence in the 1997 Uphaar cinema fire caseJustice Asha Menon issued notice to the Ansal brothers and the state on the petition by Association of Victims of Uphaar Tragedy AVUT and asked them to file their response while listing the matter for further hearing on October 11During the hearing the counsel representing the state said they support the petition and would file an appeal challenging the trial courts order releasing Ansals on the period already undergone in jailThe petitioner organisation represented through senior advocate Vikas Pahwa has challenged the trial courts order on sentence and sought enhancement of the jail term from the period already undergone to the original sentence of seven years awarded to the convicts earlierA magisterial court had on November 8 2021 awarded sevenyear jail terms to the real estate barons and since then they were in prisonAlso Read Uphaar fire tragedy Court issues show cause notice to Delhi Police for misinformation in Sushil Ansal caseThe district judge had on July 19 modified the magisterial courts order on sentence and ordered the release of Ansals former court staff Dinesh Chand Sharma and Ansals then employee P P Batra against their already undergone jail term since November 8 2021It however had upheld the fine of Rs 225 crore imposed by the magisterial court on Sushil and Gopal Ansal each and Rs three lakh each on the other twoThe petition said the district judge has failed to consider that the offence of tampering is extremely serious in nature as it affects the entire criminal justice systemIt is direct interference in the administration of justice and thus requires serious consideration while sentencing a convict for committing the offence of misappropriating the court files and tampering with the most crucial evidence purported to be used for convicting an accused person the plea filed through AVUT chairperson Neelam Krishnamoorthy saidIt contended that the trial court failed to consider that this is a case which shatters the confidence of the public at large in the criminal justice system and it requires a maximum sentence so that it works as a deterrent for others who even dream of tampering with the court record in futureIt said the district judge has failed to consider that the accused in this case primarily the Ansal brothers misused the liberty granted to them in the main Uphaar case and tampered with the evidence after hatching criminal conspiracy with the court staffWhile modifying the sentence the trial court had observed that the family members of the fire victims may not want the culprits to go scotfree and enjoy any rights and liberties in the remainder of their lives but this whole criminal litigation cannot be converted by the prosecution into an inhuman and vindictive approach to the present appellantsRegarding this observation the victims said in the plea that iquestit is highly disrespectful and insulting to record an observation against the victims suggesting that by initiating criminal process against the offenders victims have taken an inhuman and vindictive approach In fact the judicial system should be thankful to such responsible members of the societyWhile upholding the conviction of the Ansal brothers the trial court had acquitted one coaccused Anup Singh in the caseThe case is related to tampering with the evidence in the main fire tragedy case in which the Ansals were convicted and sentenced to a twoyear jail term by the Supreme CourtThe apex court however released them taking into account the prison time they had done on the condition that they pay a Rs 30 crore fine each to be used for building a trauma centre in the national capitalAccording to the charge sheet the documents tampered with included a police memo giving details of recoveries immediately after the incident Delhi Fire Service records pertaining to repair of transformer installed inside Uphaar minutes of managing directors meetings and four chequesOut of the six sets of documents a cheque of Rs 50 lakh issued by Sushil Ansal to himself and minutes of the MDs meetings proved beyond doubt that the two brothers were handling the daytoday affairs of the theatre at the relevant time the charge sheet had saidThe tampering was detected for the first time on July 20 2002 and a departmental enquiry was initiated against Dinesh Chand Sharma He was suspended and terminated from services on June 25 2004The fire had broken out at the cinema during the screening of the Hindi film Border on June 13 1997 claiming 59 livesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of 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