The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed a curative petition filed by an association of the victims in connection with the 1997 Uphaar cinema fire tragedy case. The families of victims had sought more jail time for the Ansal brothers for negligence.
Industrialists Sushil Ansal and Gopal Ansal owned the Uphaar Cinema where a fire killed 59 people during the screening of Hindi movie ‘Border’ in June 1997.
A three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice S A Bobde, and justices N V Ramana and Arun Mishra dismissed the curative plea filed by the Association for Victims of Uphaar Tragedy (AVUT).
In August 2015, the court had spared Ansal brothers on the condition that they pay a fine of Rs 30 crore each. Later, the Supreme Court awarded jail term to Sushil Ansal, which he had already served and gave him relief due to his age.
On June 13, 1997, fifty-nine people died after a fire broke out in Uphaar theatre in Delhi, while over 100 were injured in the ensuing stampede.