Explained: As new chargesheet is filed against Uphaar fire tragedy accused Sushil Ansal, a timeline of the case

On 22 June, Delhi Police revealed that Sushil Ansal, convicted in the 1997 Uphaar cinema fire, has played a fraud on authorities by concealing information about criminal cases pending against him while getting his passport renewed. In its 8-page chargesheet filed before Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Pankaj Sharma, police claimed that Ansal misled the government authority on oath that he has not been convicted in any criminal proceedings by any court. However, Police claimed that regarding the passport issued in 2013 to Ansal on a ‘‘Tatkaal’’ application, “it is found that an affidavit under the Tatkaal scheme required specific deposition by the applicant to the effect that there were no criminal proceedings pending against the applicant in any court of law or that she/ he has not been convicted by any court of law for any criminal offence in past.” “In 2013, this affidavit was filed by the accused Sushil Ansal along with his application and he has on oath misled the Government Authority (RPO) that he has not been convicted in any criminal proceedings by any Court,” said the charge sheet, filed in February this year but has come to public knowledge only now. Now, the matter has been adjourned for 31 January, 2022. What is the Uphaar Cinema tragedy? In what is considered one of the worst fire tragedies in India, 59 cine-goers died of asphyxia, after being trapped in Uphaar theatre, situated in south Delhi’s Green Park area, following the blaze. Over 100 were injured in the subsequent stampede during the screening of the Bollywood film Border. What followed is an over two-decade-long court case after victims and the families of the deceased formed The Association of Victims of Uphaar Fire Tragedy (AVUT) and filed a civil compensation case. Here’s a timeline of the case:  13 June, 1997 Around 6.55 am, the bigger of the two transformers installed on the ground floor of the Uphaar Cinema building caught fire. While it was repaired by the Delhi Vidyut Board (DVB), it is alleged that repairs were unsatisfactory; the fire broke out again at around 4.55 pm, writes News18. There was no public announcement regarding the fire inside the auditorium or the balcony, nor were any fire alarms set off, resulting in a stampede. Even the Projector Operator was not given instructions to stop the film while the fire was raging. 59 people lost their lives due to asphyxia. Over 100 were injured in the tragedy. 22 July, 1997 Uphaar theatre owner Sushil Ansal and his son Pranav were arrested in Mumbai by the crime branch of Delhi police. Trial 24 July, 1997 The probe is transferred from the Delhi Police to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). 15 November, 1997 CBI files a chargesheet against 16 accused, including theatre owners Sushil and Gopal Ansal, for causing death by negligence, endangering life and relevant provisions of the Cinematography Act, 1952. March 1999 - May 2001 Two years into the investigation, a sessions court headed by LD Malik started the trial. Charges were framed under various sections like sections 304 (culpable homicide), 304 A (causing death by negligent act) and 337 (hurt) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). On 23 May 2001, the recording of the witnesses’ statements began. April 2002 The Delhi High Court asks the trial court to expedite the case and wrap it up by 15 December in the same year. Meanwhile, the Ansals had sought repossession of the theatre but it was rejected on the grounds that the place of incident is to be preserved to appreciate evidence. April 2003 On 24 April 2003, the Delhi High Court awarded a compensation of Rs 180 million to be paid to the relatives of the victims. Conviction November, 2007 The case went on for another five years, and in 2007, the trial court sentenced the Ansal brothers (Gopal and Sushil) to two-year of rigorous imprisonment. However, a year later, the Delhi High Court reduced the sentence to one year. While Sushil Ansal had been in jail for five months, Gopal Ansal was imprisoned for over four months. The Delhi High Court granted them bail a year later but cancelled it a few months later. Ansals were sent to Tihar Jail after Supreme Court cancels their bail. Sentencing   2009 The Supreme Court issued notice on a petition filed by Neelam Krishnamoorthy, head of AVUT formed of victims’ families, seeking enhancement of sentence and alteration of charges. The CBI too filed an appeal seeking enhancement. Krishnamoorthy, who had lost her two children in the mishap, asked the apex court to review the verdict in her petition. April, 2013 - August 2015 Supreme Court reserves order on appeals of Ansals, CBI. Around 2014, the Supreme Court upheld their conviction but considering their advanced age and the period already spent by them in prison, it decided not to send them back to jail and rather asked the duo to pay a fine of Rs 30 crore each in lieu of a jail term. February 2017 The Supreme Court reviewed this order again in 2017 and sentenced Gopal to a year in jail for the case. Sushil did not have to serve a furthermore sentence because of his old age . February 2020 The Supreme Court dismissed the curative petition filed by AVUT, sparing the Ansal brothers further jail term. A three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice S A Bobde, and Justices NV Ramana and Arun Mishra considered the curative plea in -chamber and dismissed it. “We have gone through the curative petitions and the relevant documents. In our opinion, no case is made out…. Hence, the curative petition is dismissed,” the bench said in its order. (With inputs from agencies)