Uphaar Cinema fire tragedy: Delhi court orders de-sealing of property

A Delhi court on Wednesday (August 2) ordered to de-seal Uphaar Cinema hall, in which 59 people lost their lives and more than 100 were injured because of a tragic blaze in 1997. The court said that the sealing ofthe property would not serve any purpose.

The Uphaar Cinema fire was one of the worst fire tragedies in Indian history. The cinema hall is located in New Delhi's Green Park area. The fire broke out onJune 13, 1997 during the three o'clock screening of the movie Border. The cinema premises was sealed and has not been in use ever since.

The court said that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Delhi Police and Association of Victims of Uphaar Tragedy (AVUT) president Neelam Krishnamoorthy have already given their "no objection" to the Supreme Court to return the theatre to the applicant.

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The application was moved by Ansal Theatres and Club Hotels Private Ltd. The former directors - Sushil Ansal and Gopal Ansal - of this group were convicted in the fire tragedy case.

The judge said, "Since the trial has reached finality, absolutely no purpose would be served to keep the property sealed. The application is thereby allowed and property in question be de-sealed and released to the applicant being the rightful owner."

Krishnamoorthy's submission was rejected by the judge. It sought appropriate action against the applicant for filing a copy of a judgment of the Supreme Court in the case but deliberately, misguided the court.

The AVUT president alleged that the applicant tampered with the judicial record. She highlighted that an FIR was registered against the directors of the applicant company for tampering with judicial records in the case for which they were even convicted.

The judge noted the submission of the counsel for the applicant, who claimed there was "no deliberate attempt to conceal these lines from the said judgment and it happened inadvertently".

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The judge said, "In the view of this court, the concealment of these lines could not have helped the applicant in any way in disposing of this application in its favour."

"Thereby, the plea raised by Neelam Krishnamoorthy of tampering of the judicial record by the applicant is not acceptable," the judge added.

The applicant also pointed out that the property was in a dilapidated condition due to lack of maintenance and was getting wasted.

(With inputs from agencies)

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