HC upholds evidence tampering charges against Ansal brothers
Delhi HC on Friday paved the way for the trial of theatre owners Sushil Ansal and Gopal Ansal for alleged tampering of evidence in a case related to the 1997 Uphaar cinema hall fire.
A trial court had ordered framing charges against seven accused, including Ansal brothers, in May 2014 for abetment of offence, causing the disappearance of evidence, criminal breach of trust by a public servant and criminal conspiracy.
Justice Siddharth Mridul of the high court held there was adequate material on record before the trial court that justifies framing of charges against Ansal brothers and others. It directed the lower court to proceed with the trial in the case.
“The material gave rise to a strong suspicion that the accused committed the offence for which charges were rightly framed,” Mridul said. Apart from Ansals, Anoop Singh, Prem Prakash Batra, Harswaroop Panwar, Dharamveer Malhotra as well as a court employee, Dinesh Chandra Sharma, were accused of tampering with evidence in the case that is pending since 2006.
All the accused have denied allegations against them. A fire broke out at the theatre during the screening of film Border on June 13, 1997, killing 59 people.
A court on January 31, 2003, ordered an inquiry after some documents related to the case went missing from the court record room. After an inquiry, Sharma was dismissed.