1997 Uphaar cinema fire case: Convict Sushil Ansal playing fraud, victims association tells court

NEW DELHI: The Association of Victims of Uphaar Tragedy (AVUT) today told a Delhi court that Sushil Ansal, convicted in the 1997 case, was trying to mislead the court by giving wrong information in his plea seeking an NOC for renewal of his passport.

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Deepak Sherawat was told by AVUT chairperson Neelam Krishnamoorthy that Ansal's passport number mentioned in his plea was different from the one he had earlier mentioned before the court in 2008, while the judicial records show that he did not get his passport renewed during this period.

"The actual details of the passport held by Ansal is extremely crucial before granting a NOC for re-issue of his passport, as he is trying to play fraud upon the court by misleading the court," said senior advocate Vikas Pahwa, appearing for AVUT.

"It is highly important that, since there exists a huge discrepancy in the passport number held by accused Sushil Ansal as opposed to the records available, there exists a necessity and desirability for knowing the actual passport number of accused from relevant authorities for the purpose of granting NOC," AVUT said.

"It is clear that accused Sushil Ansal is deliberately misleading this court by placing the wrong passport number, as he has never obtained any NOC for his passport renewal," AVUT, in its application moved through advocate Kinnori Ghosh, said.

The court is hearing a case related to tampering of evidence in Uphaar fire tragedy after Krishnamoorthy pressed for an early date contending it was a 10-year-old matter which had already been delayed.

Krishnamoorthy, who lost two children in the tragedy, has been fighting a legal battle on behalf of the victims' families for the last 20 years.

The apex court had last year asked Gopal Ansal to undergo the remaining one-year jail term in the case, while his elder brother Sushil got relief from incarceration with a prison term already undergone by him in view of age-related complications.

A fire at the Uphaar cinema during the screening of Hindi film "Border" on June 13, 1997 had claimed 59 lives.