1997 Uphaar fire case: SC dismisses Gopal Ansal’s plea for parity with brother

Citing old age, Sushil Ansal was spared jail in the case

Gopal Ansal (left) and Sushil Ansal.

The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed an application filed by real estate baron Gopal Ansal seeking parity with elder brother Sushil, who was spared a prison sentence on the ground of advanced age in the 1997 Uphaar fire tragedy case.

A bench of Justices Ranjan Gogoi, Kurian Joseph and A.K. Goel refused to entertain Gopal’s plea despite his counsel and senior advocate Ram Jethmalani submitting that his client was “almost a dead man” broken by disease, including cerebral atrophy.

Gopal argued that he had suffered more than his brother. “I am not trying to harm my brother but I am also an old man,” Mr. Jethmalani submitted.

“Maximum punishment should be given only for crimes of unimaginave gravity. Negligence is not foreseeable. I have established more than parity in this case,” Mr. Jethmalani submitted.

“We have passed that stage [of arguments] now,” Justice Gogoi responded.

On February 9, Gopal was sentenced to serve the remainder of his one-year sentence. He was supposed to surrender on Thursday.

The Bench however directed Gopal to surrender by March 20.

Families’ plea rejected

The court also dismissed an application by the victims’ families under the banner of Association of Victims of Uphaar Tragedy (AVUT), which wanted the court to modify its February 9 order and send Sushil to prison - punishment on a par with Gopal.

The court said that it cannot entertain a review of an order passed in review of the case.

Senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for the CBI, said there was no rule of filing criminal miscellaneous petitions against a review order.

Both brothers were found guilty of criminal negligence, resulting in the death of 59 people, many women and children, trapped inside the cinema hall when a fire broke out during the screening of a film.