Uphaar cinema case: SC declines Gopal Ansal’s plea to extend surrender date

Fifty-nine people died in the June 13, 1997 fire tragedy in the Uphaar Cinema owned by the Ansals.

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to give more time to Gopal Ansal, who has been sentenced to one-year imprisonment for a fire in south Delhi's Uphaar Cinema that killed 59 people. The top court had ordered him to surrender by March 20.

Gopal and his brother Sushil owned the Uphaar Cinema in south Delhi, where 55 movie-goers died after the theatre caught fire in 1997. Gopal's lawyer and senior advocate Ram Jethmalani requested the court to postpone the hearing in the case after the nine-day Holi break. But the bench denied his request.

Uphaar cinema case: Senior lawyer Ram Jethmalani had appeared for Gopal Ansal. SC refused to give more time to Ansal to surrender (file pic) pic.twitter.com/XZxkBVIRfd

— ANI (@ANI_news) March 20, 2017

On February 9, the apex court had sentenced Gopal to undergo the remaining jail term in the case while his elder brother Sushil got relief from incarceration with a prison term already undergone by him in view of age-related complications.

Fifty-nine people died in the June 13, 1997 fire tragedy in the Uphaar Cinema owned by the Ansals. The fire broke out during an afternoon screening of Bollywood film Border.

OneIndia News