AMN / NEW DELHI
A Delhi court awarded 7-year jail terms to real estate tycoons Sushil and Gopal Ansal for tampering with evidence in the Uphaar cinema fire case. The court also imposed a fine of ₹2.25 crore each on the Ansals.
The court 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 ₹3 lakh each on them.
The Ansals were found guilty of evidence tampering in the main fire tragedy case in which they were convicted and sentenced to a 2-year jail term by the Supreme Court.
The top court, however, released them taking into account the prison time they had done on the condition that they pay ₹30 crores fine each, to be used for building a trauma center in the national capital.
The fire that claimed 59 lives, had broken out at the Uphaar cinema during a film show on June 13, 1997.