Uphaar Cinema fire case: Ansal brothers assure SC they will not leave India

New Delhi: Real estate barons Sushil and Gopal Ansal on Monday assured the Supreme Court that they will not leave India till it commences hearing on the plea of the victims’ association of the 1997 Uphaar fire tragedy seeking review of its 2015 verdict. [caption id=“attachment_3106434” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. AFP[/caption] The apex court in 2015 had said that real estate barons were required to serve two years jail term, if they failed to pay Rs 30 crore each as fine in the matter. A bench headed by Justice JS Khehar on Monday asked the counsel representing Ansals to give an undertaking that his clients will not leave the country till the apex court hears the review plea in the case. Senior advocate KTS Tulsi, appearing for Association of Victims of Uphaar Tragedy (AVUT), said Ansals may flee the country and an order be passed to restrain them. The court then sought an undertaking which was given by the counsel on behalf of Ansals. Earlier, the AVUT has mentioned the review plea for urgent hearing before a bench headed by Chief Justice TS Thakur who said a new bench would be constituted to hear the review petitions filed by the CBI and Association. Earlier this year, a bench headed by Justice AR Dave had decided to hear in open court the petitions filed by the CBI and AVUT seeking review of the 2015 verdict. Following the judgement, the Ansals had deposited the amount. However, Justice Dave, who headed the three-judge bench, which had heard the matters in the Uphaar case, retired on 18 November. 59 people had died of asphyxia when a fire broke out during the screening of Bollywood movie ‘Border’ in Uphaar theatre in Green Park area of South Delhi on 13 June, 1997. Over 100 were also injured in the subsequent stampede. In its review plea, AVUT had said the apex court judgement “bestow an unwarranted leniency on convicts whose conviction in the most heinous of offences has been upheld by all courts including this court and sentences imposed on them have been substituted with fine without assigning any reason.”