Uphaar Cinema fire: The best judgement SC has delivered, says Jethmalani

New Delhi: Noted senior lawyer Ram Jethmalani on Thursday hailed the Supreme Court judgement on 1997 Uphaar fire tragedy case in which 59 cine-goers had died of asphyxia.

Speaking to news agency ANI, Jethmalani said the Uphaar case judgement is the best that the apex court has delivered.

Jethmalani represented the Ansal brothers in the top court.

The senior lawyer's observation comes a day after, the SC on Wednesday allowed industrialists Sushil and Gopal Ansal to walk free in the Uphaar Cinema fire case fire tragedy case on furnishing of a whopping fine of Rs 30 crore each within three months.

Awarding the jail term for a period already undergone by the industrialists, the three-judge bench of Justices AR Dave, Kurian Joseph and Adarsh Kumar Goel asked them to pay the total fine of Rs 60 crore in three months and deposit it with the Delhi government, which in turn will spend the money on welfare schemes.

While Sushil Ansal has spent over five months in prison, Gopal has spent jail time of over four months.

The Ansal brothers owned the Uphaar cinema in south Delhi where 59 people died due to asphyxiation after a fire broke out in the transformer room, emitting toxic gases.

The deaths occurred as people could not escape as the exit doors were closed. There was only one operational exit door.

While reacting to the Supreme Court order Neelam Krishnamurthy, who led the Association of Victims of Uphaar Tragedy (AVUT) said rich people can get away by paying money but it is different for the ordinary citizens.

Maintaining that nobody cared about the human life of ordinary citizen, she said "I am very much disappointed. 18 years back, I lost faith in God and 18 years later, I lost faith in judiciary."