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Uphaar judgment: Had I known, I’d have picked up a gun

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Neelam Krishnamoorthy
Neelam KrishnamoorthyAug 28, 2015 | 16:03

Uphaar judgment: Had I known, I’d have picked up a gun

Eighteen years back, I had lost faith in god. Now, I have lost faith in the Indian judiciary. I have always had the greatest respect for the courts, but I am compelled to say that I am devastated by the Supreme Court judgment which has allowed the Ansals the luxury of buying their freedom for a paltry (at least to them) sum of Rs 60 crores.

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How can the Supreme Court give such a judgment when trial court, high court and the apex court itself, found the Ansals grossly negligent, guilty of several fire safety and precautionary breaches? When they housed the DVB (Delhi Vidyut Board) transformer in the  ground floor car parking area which had vehicles almost twice the permissible limit? When they had closed the only exit on the right hand side of the balcony to construct family box for  the convenience  and comfort of their family and friends? When they blocked the vertical gangway by installing additional seats thus depriving the patrons to use the right hand side gangway? Hence particularly those on the right side of the balcony, which, in fact, permanently cut of access to right hand stairways thus, preventing the patrons from using the right hand side stairways. There were no emergency exits, no battery-operated lighting to guide the trapped viewers to safety, no public address system. All this were in contravention of Delhi Cinematograph Rules, 1953. 

Since I have been to the Uphaar cinema, I am well conversant with the topography and the seating arrangement in the balcony. Both Unnati and Ujjwal, occupied seats A4 and A5 the first row in the balcony on the right hand side on that fateful day. They were just three seats away from the gangway on the right. Had the gangway and exit had not been blocked  my children would have walked to safety.  

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Yet the Ansals, who were only interested in making extra money at the cost of the viewers’ safety and their precious lives, have been allowed to get away by by paying Rs 60crores for construction of a trauma centre by government of Delhi. They were the owners and ultimately responsible for the day-to-day affairs of the theatre. Why had they allowed such irregularities to thrive on their watch?   

This is the only mass tragedy case which has reached the Supreme Court and in which the convictions were upheld and I expected the courts to deliver a judgment which would sent a strong message to the perpetrators of crime. But instead the court chose to grant freedom to Ansals at Rs 60crore. 

Supreme Court had considered prolonged trial as a mitigating factor for commuting the Ansals’ sentence to sentence served. It was the accused who were delaying the proceedings by seeking frequent adjournments and moving frivolous applications. AVUT (Association of the Victims of Uphaar Tragedy) had to approach the high court for directions to expedite the trial. This is notwithstanding the constant harassment, intimidation and threats that I had to face from the Ansals. If this was not enough, they even tampered  with the judicial records and interfered in the administration of justice for which they are facing trial.

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The three-judge bench of the Supreme Court heard the defence counsel Ram Jethmalani at length, but declined the CBI’s plea that it be given 15 minutes to refute Jethmalani’s arguments. Harish Salve, KTS Tulsi and every one of us at the court were shocked. Letting the Ansals get away with Rs 60crore will hardly serve as a deterrent for such gross negligence on the part of the builders’ lobby. The 59 lives lost will not come back, but neither will the victims’ families have any sense of closure.

Since the amount of Rs 60crore was to be deposited with Delhi government  for construction of a trauma centre, I met Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, and requested him not to accept this blood money. I understand there are legal protocols to be followed here, but on a moral platform, the CM expressed his solidarity. Moreover, wouldn’t it be a mockery of justice for the Ansals to pay Rs 60crore to Delhi government when latter itself was culpable? It was the various technical authorities of Delhi government who were responsible for issuing the no-objection certificates in contraventions of the statutes. 

In one of the English news channels, Ram Jethmalani called me “insane”. Threats, intimidation, abuse by his own clients, the Ansals, for 18 long years, are responsible for alleged "insanity". 

I have failed to get justice for my children. I have also failed to let this case set a larger precedent, make a wider impact. It seems the builders’ lobby and corporate sector will continue to fill their coffers at the cost of human lives.

This judgment will further alienate ordinary citizens from the courts. People consider courts, unfriendly and utterly devoid of any compassion.

I regret having pursued the Uphaar cinema fire tragedy case so vigorously in the courts for 18 years. I should have just gone out and killed those responsible for the death of my two children and 57 others. I would have pleaded insanity, exactly what Jethmalani accuses me of. By now, I would have finished serving my sentence as well.  

But I chose law. And law has let me down.

(As told to Angshukanta Chakraborty) 

Last updated: August 28, 2015 | 16:12
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