Ansal brothers tampering with evidence in Uphaar fire case: Delhi Police

Delhi police Friday told a court that real estate tycoons Sushil and Gopal Ansal tampering with evidence in the 1997 case of Uphaar cinema fire, which had claimed 59 lives, seriously eroded the judicial integrity of entire Delhi judiciary.

The prosecution submitted to District Judge Dharmesh Sharma while opposing a plea filed by the Ansal brothers challenging their conviction and the 7-year jail terms by a magisterial court in November last year.

The court had also imposed a fine of Rs 2.25 crore each on the Ansals.

Public Prosecutor A T Ansari termed the findings in the magisterial court's judgement as well-founded, and said that no court of law can afford to turn a blind eye to the commission of such an offence.

This is the case which has not only undermined the majesty of law but has also seriously eroded the judicial integrity of the entire Delhi Judiciary. This is the case which has also seriously eroded the long-cherished confidence of the public at large in our well-tested justice delivery system, the prosecution told the court.

The court had also awarded a 7-year-jail term each to former court staff Dinesh Chand Sharma and two others -- P P Batra and Anoop Singh -- and a fine of Rs three lakh each.

The case is related to tampering with the evidence in the main fire tragedy case in which the Ansals were convicted and sentenced to a 2-year jail term by the Supreme Court.

The SC 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 capital.

As per 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 Director's meetings, and four cheques.

Out of the six sets of documents, a cheque of ?50 lakh, issued by Sushil Ansal to self, and minutes of the MD's meetings, proved beyond doubt that the two brothers were handling the day-to-day affairs of the theatre at the relevant time, the charge sheet had said.

It said the Ansals had taken the defence in the main case that they had no involvement in the day-to-day functioning.

The 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, 2004.

The fire had broken out at the Uphaar cinema during the screening of the Hindi film 'Border' on June 13, 1997, claiming 59 lives.