New Delhi: A Delhi court on Saturday again refused
to decide a legal question whether it is empowered to take
congizance of CBI's probe report giving a clean chit to former
IPS officer Amod Kanth in 1997 Uphaar fire case and referred
the matter to the senior most district judge.
District and Sessions Judge S P Garg, to whom the matter
was referred back for taking a decision, said that he would
not decide on the issue.
"I am sending the case to G P Mittal, the senior most
District and Sessions Judge at Tis Hazari," Garg said.
The case was referred to Garg on February 18 by another
District Judge Gurdeep Kumar.
The courts are refusing to decide the issue of whether a
sessions judge can take cognizance of the report or not.
According to the CrPC, metropolitan magistrates are
empowered to take cognizance of a chargesheet or report before
sending the case to a sessions court for start of the trial.
So far, two district judges -- S P Garg and Gurdeep Kumar
-- have refused to decide the question as to whether they were
empowered to take cognizance of the CBI's probe report, giving
clean chit to Kanth in the Uphaar fire case.
Now, the matter would be heard afresh by District Judge G
P Mittal on February 25, the next date of hearing.
CBI, in pursuance of a Delhi High Court order, had filed
a report after probing the role of Kanth, the then Delhi DCP
who was accused of allowing an increase in the number of seats
in the balcony of the ill-fated theatre.
CBI favoured non-prosecution of Kanth saying he did not
commit any offence and acted as per the technical advice.
There was no witness to the fact that it was Kanth who
had allowed extra seats in the theatre for any consideration,
CBI had said.
"CBI had filed the chargesheet in March last year and
had given a clean chit to Amod Kanth. The matter is still
stuck on a procedural issue," Neelam Krishnamurthy, who lost
her two children in the inferno, said.
The Uphaar fire victims' association, AVUT, led by
Krishnamurthy, had sought rejection of CBI's report and
pressed for prosecution of Kanth for his alleged role in
allowing extra seats in the balcony which they said had led to
closure of exit gates after the fire.
59 victims died of asphyxia during the screening of Hindi
blockbuster movie 'Border' on June 13, 1997 in a fire that had
engulfed the theatre in south Delhi.
PTI
First Published: Saturday, February 20, 2010, 21:01