Uphaar Fire Tragedy: Justice delayed but not denied, verdict on Nov 20

Oct 22: Justice is like a train that is nearly always late – that somebody had said and it is true in the manner in which our country’s justice delivery system functions.

A Delhi court has again rolled on the date to pronounce its verdict on November 20 in the ten-year-old Uphaar fire tragedy that engulfed 59 innocent people.

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Mamta Sehgal, Additional Sessions Judge settled for November 20 for the proclamation of the verdict after the counsel for CBI asked to fix exact date for the pronouncement of the verdict.

The court also rejected the plea of the accused to file additional written arguments in reply to what CBI have submitted citing that the directions of the Supreme Court in this regard have already been completed with.

Earlier the Delhi Court on September 05 postponed the announcement of verdict on Uphaar trial to October 22.

The court judgement is still awaited on the Uphaar tragedy and all the accused who have been charged on careless management of the theatre and hence for culpable homicide are facing trials for almost 10 years and 3 months.

The fatal date of June 13, 1993, one would have never imagined that the horrible reverberation during the screening of movie Border is actually the sounds of their death triggered by a fire in Uphaar Cinema hall.

The black day left 29 families in dark and despair for the rest of their lives. 59 people died due to suffocation and 100 injured in that tragic accident.

However, later findings revealed that the incident occurred due to the negligence of the cinema hall management and also the municipal body who gave away permission for installing an electric transformer in the basement of a private property. Unfortunately transformer burst and the fire spread all over the place surrounding the entire theatre and also covering the car parking that was much overloaded from its normal capacity. Since the Delhi Vidyut Board (DVB) set up the transformer there, therefore the public agency also came under scanner.

All the accused have been charged with causing death by negligence and endangering lives under the IPC and relevant provisions of the Cinematography Act, 1952.

Soon after the investigation done by the CBI, the chargesheets against sixteen persons have been filed including the Ansal brothers Gopal and Sushil Ansal who own the property of Uphaar; the members of cinema hall management and also public agencies like MCD, PWD for illegally renewing license of the cinema hall. Since then the families of the victims who later made an association to fight for their cause, to share shoulder to cry, and to live the rest of their lives as a one family are still fighting for justice.

Our justice system once again bent in front of the money owners and on April 24, 2003 the Delhi High Court orders Rs 18 crore in compensation to the victims. The Ansals had to bear 55% of the amount and the rest by municipal authority and the power company. However, that case is still in Supreme Court.

Let’s watch and keep our fingers crossed to see if the pronouncement of verdict on November 20 will render the sufferers their due, or the date will be prolonged, keep on changing for the final judgment adding misery in their share of sorrow.