In a major setback for real estate barons Sushil and Gopal Ansal, the Delhi High Court on Wednesday, 16 February, rejected their plea seeking suspension of the seven-year sentence in the Uphaar tragedy evidence tampering case.
"The judgments will be uploaded by the evening," said the bench of Justice Subramonium Prasad. The court, however, permitted the petition filed by Anoop Singh Karayat.
In the last hearing on 27 January, the same bench had reserved the order after hearing the arguments of counsel for convicts and for the victims of the Uphaar tragedy.
On 8 November 2021, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Patiala House Court, Dr Pankaj Sharma, had sentenced Ansals to seven years imprisonment besides imposing a fine of Rs 2.25 crore on both in the evidence tampering case.
During the course of the hearing on 27 January, the bench said: "We will try to pronounce the judgment on the petition before the date of hearing in the trial court. If, in any case, it is not pronounced by then, I will direct the trial court to continue the hearing on appeals."
Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for the Ansals, submitted that no judicial system considers the primary conviction as final.
"There is a need to adopt a larger view and not a tactical one... it was alleged that I delayed the trial which is not true. We had challenged the summoning order on the charge, even during that period, trial was not stayed," he said.
He submitted with regards to the allegations related to the conspiracy of tampering with evidence, "there is no direct evidence of tampering. The only ground was that I would be the beneficiary of delay."
"If all the documents were intact and exhibited before the court, then what led to this delay is questionable," he added.
On 11 January, the Delhi Police had told the High Court that Ansals cannot take advantage of their old age in their plea seeking suspension of their jail terms.
On 13 June 1997, halfway through the screening of Hindi film 'Border', a fire broke out in the Uphaar cinema, located in Green Park in south Delhi, killing 59 people in one of the worst tragedies in the country.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)