Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: In a much-awaited relief to the kith and kin of the victims of the Uphaar fire tragedy, the Supreme Court has directed the Ansal brothers for the disbursal of Rs 6.64 crore in cash as an interim compensation.
However, the family of the victims have rejected the same on the grounds that they don’t need charity from the Ansals. They added that if the relief was coming from the apex court then it would have been a different matter.
Last month, the court had instructed for the grant of a little above Rs 3 crore as interim relief. Today’s announcement is based on the court’s earlier stand but it has nearly doubled the amount.
A bench comprising Justices R V Raveendran and K S Radhakrishnan had recently remarked that the Ansal brothers should not try to abdicate responsibility of giving monetary compensation.
On June 13th, 1997, 59 people who had come to watch the film, “Border” perished when flames erupted in the hall and choked them to death.
First Published: Wednesday, December 16, 2009, 17:40