The Owner of a Delhi Cinema hall where 59 people died in a fire in 1997 was sentenced to a year in prison by the Supreme Court on Thursday, a ruling slammed by relatives of victims.
A court in 2007 had found real estate barons Gopal Ansal and his brother Sushil, owners of Uphaar cinema, guilty of causing death due to negligence and sentenced them to two years in jail.
In 2015, the Supreme Court let them off with a fine of 300 million rupees (4.5 million dollars), following which the prosecution appealed against the verdict.
Reviewing the 2015 ruling, the judges said Gopal Ansal, 69, will have to surrender within a month and go to prison, petitioner Neelam Krishnamurthy said.
Sushil Ansal, 77, would not be jailed because of his advancing age and ailments.
“Twenty-three children died in the fire, it would have been seen as a heinous crime anywhere in the world, but the Ansals got away because they are rich and powerful,’’ said Krishnamurthy.
Krishnamurthy’s 13-year-old son and 18-year-old daughter died in the blaze.
The victims’ families are demanding that the Ansal brothers get the maximum punishment of two years in jail and intend to file a curative petition, the last appeal before the Supreme Court to “cure’’ perceived defects in a final order or judgment.
Sushil Ansal spent five months in jail before he received bail, which means his effective jail term is seven months.
Most of the victims died in a stampede caused by the fire where 100 were injured. (dpa/NAN)