A Delhi court sentenced two businessmen to seven years in prison on Monday after finding them guilty of stealing crucial evidence related to their trial over a deadly 1997 cinema hall fire.
Fifty-nine moviegoers were killed in the blaze at Delhi’s Uphaar cinema hall owned by businessmen brothers Sushil and Gopal Ansal.
Both were convicted and briefly jailed for manslaughter in 2007 for the blaze deaths, but the case got embroiled in controversy over inordinate judicial delays and legal meanderings.
The trial court last month found the brothers guilty of tampering with evidence and criminal conspiracy after investigations found that “critical documents” related to the cinema fire trial were either missing or destroyed from the Delhi High Court in 2003.
The victims' families had accused the brothers of bribing a court employee to steal or destroy the documentary evidence from the court premises to sabotage the trial into their role in the fire incident. A court agreed.
While sentencing the two property barons, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Pankaj Sharma said the brothers stole the documents to try to “secure their acquittal and put a stumbling block in the trial”.
The court said the act amounted to “defiling the justice administration system”.
The judge ordered their immediate arrest and imposed a fine of rupees 45 million ($6 million). A former court employee, Dinesh Chandra Sharma, and two others were also sentenced to prison on similar charges. Two other accused died during the trial.
Neelam Krishnamoorthy, who lost her two children in the blaze, expressed happiness over the conviction of the brothers, saying the court has vindicated their decades-long stand.
“This was long overdue, it has taken me a quarter of a century to get justice for my children,” Ms Krishnamoorthy told The National.
“My husband and I have spent 25 years of life going to court in the hope of getting justice as I strongly believe there can be no peace without justice and my children deserve it,” she said.
The Uphaar cinema blaze case has remained in the national headlines for decades and symbolise India’s ineffective justice system.
Considered as the worst fire tragedy in the country, 59 people were killed and more than 100 were injured in the blaze during the screening of Bollywood blockbuster Border.
The fire caused, by a short circuit in the car park, had engulfed the entire building that lacked fire safety mechanism.
Most people died in the ensuing stampede or were asphyxiated as the exit doors were illegally blocked by extra chairs, court had found.
A trial court in 2007 had convicted the brothers of manslaughter and sentenced them to two years in prison but within weeks they were granted bail by the Delhi High Court. The Supreme Court stepped in and cancelled their bail amid a nationwide outrage.
But the Delhi High Court in 2008 reduced their sentencing to one-year before the Supreme Court again granted them bail in 2009.
The Supreme Court in 2015 suspended their jail terms on the condition that the brothers pay a fine of 600 million rupees for the construction of a medical trauma centre in Delhi.
The apex court in 2011 also halved the 250 million rupees payout to the victim families.
The court rulings had caused furore among the victim families, who had termed the undue judicial reprieves to the powerful businessmen as a failure of India’s justice system.
The specs: 2018 Volkswagen Teramont
Price, base / as tested Dh137,000 / Dh189,950
Engine 3.6-litre V6
Gearbox Eight-speed automatic
Power 280hp @ 6,200rpm
Torque 360Nm @ 2,750rpm
Fuel economy, combined 11.7L / 100km
Story of 2017-18 so far and schedule to come
Roll of Honour
Who has won what so far in the West Asia rugby season?
Western Clubs Champions League
Winners: Abu Dhabi Harlequins
Runners up: Bahrain
Dubai Rugby Sevens
Winners: Dubai Exiles
Runners up: Jebel Ali Dragons
West Asia Premiership
Winners: Jebel Ali Dragons
Runners up: Abu Dhabi Harlequins
UAE Premiership Cup
Winners: Abu Dhabi Harlequins
Runners up: Dubai Exiles
Fixtures
Friday
West Asia Cup final
5pm, Bahrain (6pm UAE time), Bahrain v Dubai Exiles
West Asia Trophy final
3pm, The Sevens, Dubai Hurricanes v Dubai Sports City Eagles
Friday, April 13
UAE Premiership final
5pm, Al Ain, Dubai Exiles v Abu Dhabi Harlequins
How to donate
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Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Huddersfield Town permanent signings:
- Steve Mounie (striker): signed from Montpellier for £11 million
- Tom Ince (winger): signed from Derby County for £7.7m
- Aaron Mooy (midfielder): signed from Manchester City for £7.7m
- Laurent Depoitre (striker): signed from Porto for £3.4m
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Top 10 in the F1 drivers' standings
1. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari 202 points
2. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-GP 188
3. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes-GP 169
4. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Racing 117
5. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari 116
6. Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing 67
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8. Esteban Ocon, Force India 45
9. Carlos Sainz Jr, Toro Rosso 35
10. Nico Hulkenberg, Renault 26
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Traits of Chinese zodiac animals
Tiger:independent, successful, volatile
Rat:witty, creative, charming
Ox:diligent, perseverent, conservative
Rabbit:gracious, considerate, sensitive
Dragon:prosperous, brave, rash
Snake:calm, thoughtful, stubborn
Horse:faithful, energetic, carefree
Sheep:easy-going, peacemaker, curious
Monkey:family-orientated, clever, playful
Rooster:honest, confident, pompous
Dog:loyal, kind, perfectionist
Boar:loving, tolerant, indulgent
It's Monty Python's Crashing Rocket Circus
To the theme tune of the famous zany British comedy TV show, SpaceX has shown exactly what can go wrong when you try to land a rocket.
The two minute video posted on YouTube is a compilation of crashes and explosion as the company, created by billionaire Elon Musk, refined the technique of reusable space flight.
SpaceX is able to land its rockets on land once they have completed the first stage of their mission, and is able to resuse them multiple times - a first for space flight.
But as the video, How Not to Land an Orbital Rocket Booster, demonstrates, it was a case if you fail, try and try again.
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Company%20Profile
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Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
Company profile
Company: Rent Your Wardrobe
Date started: May 2021
Founder: Mamta Arora
Based: Dubai
Sector: Clothes rental subscription
Stage: Bootstrapped, self-funded
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
French business
France has organised a delegation of leading businesses to travel to Syria. The group was led by French shipping giant CMA CGM, which struck a 30-year contract in May with the Syrian government to develop and run Latakia port. Also present were water and waste management company Suez, defence multinational Thales, and Ellipse Group, which is currently looking into rehabilitating Syrian hospitals.
The%20specs%3A%202024%20Mercedes%20E200
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The bio
Date of Birth: April 25, 1993
Place of Birth: Dubai, UAE
Marital Status: Single
School: Al Sufouh in Jumeirah, Dubai
University: Emirates Airline National Cadet Programme and Hamdan University
Job Title: Pilot, First Officer
Number of hours flying in a Boeing 777: 1,200
Number of flights: Approximately 300
Hobbies: Exercising
Nicest destination: Milan, New Zealand, Seattle for shopping
Least nice destination: Kabul, but someone has to do it. It’s not scary but at least you can tick the box that you’ve been
Favourite place to visit: Dubai, there’s no place like home
Stree
Producer: Maddock Films, Jio Movies
Director: Amar Kaushik
Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Shraddha Kapoor, Pankaj Tripathi, Aparshakti Khurana, Abhishek Banerjee
Rating: 3.5
Bugatti Chiron Super Sport - the specs:
Engine: 8.0-litre quad-turbo W16
Transmission: 7-speed DSG auto
Power: 1,600hp
Torque: 1,600Nm
0-100kph in 2.4seconds
0-200kph in 5.8 seconds
0-300kph in 12.1 seconds
Top speed: 440kph
Price: Dh13,200,000
Bugatti Chiron Pur Sport - the specs:
Engine: 8.0-litre quad-turbo W16
Transmission: 7-speed DSG auto
Power: 1,500hp
Torque: 1,600Nm
0-100kph in 2.3 seconds
0-200kph in 5.5 seconds
0-300kph in 11.8 seconds
Top speed: 350kph
Price: Dh13,600,000
