Uphaar tragedy: Ansals sentenced to 2 yrs in jail

Gopal Ansal & Sushil Ansal have been sentenced to 2 years in prison. In the long running Uphaar case, the Ansals had been found guilty in 1997 Uphaar Cinema fire.

Ten years after the Uphaar fire tragedy, the verdict had been finally delivered on 20th November 2007.

The 12 surviving, accused in the 1997 tragedy, including the threatre owners-Ansal Brothers, had been found guilty by a Delhi Court.

The Uphaar Cinema had caught fire, killing 59 people, during the screening of the movie-Border.

Of the 12 convicted, are builder brothers Sushil and Gopal Ansal, who own the cinema hall. They have been found guilty for causing death due to negligence and could face imprisonment for up to two years. The quantum of punishment will be announced tomorrow.

Justice delayed does not mean justice denied. Ten long years, after the Uphaar theatre fire killed 59 people in New Delhi, a court handed out its verdict. All 12 of the accused were convicted, including prominent builders Sushil and Gopal Ansal. The relatives of the victims feel they have been let off lightly, reports CNBC-TV18

A trial by fire for the families of the 59 people, who died in the Uphaar tragedy in 1997, finally ended with a Delhi Court convicting all the 12 accused. It was an anguished wait of 10 years for justice. Among those convicted are top Delhi builders, who own the building, the Ansal brothers-Sushil and Gopal. They could get up to two years in prison. But for those who lost their families to the fire, that is not enough.

Said Neelam Krishnamurthy, Association of Uphaar Victims, "When you kill a chinkara, you are sentenced for five years and for 59 humans, you are being sentenced two years. We have a long way to go and will fight."

While the victims' families steeled themselves to take the battle forward, after the 10-year wait, the Ansal's lawyer says he still believes his clients are innocent. According to Prem Kumar, Ansal's Lawyer,"The company that owns the theatre has absolutely no connection with the incident."

The punishment could be harsher for the theatre employees - three managers and a doorman, who have been charged with culpable homicide, not amounting to murder, a charge that carries a prison term of up to ten years.

From death of four accused, to a Court staff tampering evidence, the Uphaar case has seen it all. But even as the punishment will be pronounced tomorrow, the AVUT members are clear that their fight for justice has just begun..