Delhi court upholds Ansal brothers’ conviction for evidence tampering

NEW DELHI: A city court on Monday upheld the conviction of real estate barons Gopal and Sushil Ansal in an evidence tampering case related to the 1997 Uphaar cinema hall fire tragedy, saying there was no merit in their appeals.
District judge Dharmesh Sharma also upheld the conviction of two other accused, PP Batra and Dinesh Chand Sharma. The court, however, set aside the conviction of accused Anoop Singh.The court has put the matter for hearing arguments on the petition filed by the convicts challenging their quantum of sentencing.
On October 8, 2021, a magistrate court had convicted the Ansal brothers saying they had attacked the very purity and sanctity of the justice system, making it the “victim”. The court had further said the “high-handedness” of the accused for securing benefit in the trial sans documents by any means demonstrated the scant regard they had for the justice delivery system, which was the bedrock of democracy.
The Ansal brothers were sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment on November 8, 2021 and a fine of Rs 2.25 crore was imposed on each of them. The court also awarded Batra and Anoop Singh and former court staff Dinesh Chand Sharma seven years’ imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 3 lakh on each of them.
A session’s court, before which the Ansals had challenged their conviction order, on December 3, 2021 refused to suspend their sentence. They moved Delhi High Court against the order, but the sentencing was upheld.
During the trial in the main case related to the tragedy that claimed 59 lives, the Ansals and five others, including the then court staff, had torn, defaced and obliterated crucial documents of the prosecution evidence to secure acquittal. The Ansals were convicted in the matter.
The court observed that the accused did their best to sabotage the trial, but, unfortunately for them and fortunately for the judicial system, the legal process was “robust and strong” and “immune from such nefarious attacks” and could “respond to such situations with resilience”.
Additional Public Prosecutor AT Ansari argued that this case had not only brought a bad name to the well tested criminal justice delivery system, but also eroded the confidence and trust of a common man in it.
Senior advocate Vikas Pahwa, appearing for the complainant, Association of Victims of Uphaar Tragedy, had argued that the accused had destroyed the most vital piece of evidence.