Uphaar cinema case: Delhi Court grants bail to Ansal brothers

New Delhi, Apr 23 (ANI): A Delhi court on Friday granted bail to the Ansal brothers- Sushil and Gopal Ansal in connection with the 1997 Uphaar cinema fire tragedy that claimed 59 lives.

The bail was granted after both surrendered before the Court in a case of destruction of evidence in connection with the case.

Metropolitan Magistrate Geetanjali Goel asked the Ansal brothers to furnish a personal and surety bond of one lakh rupees as a pre-condition of their release on bail.

Besides Ansals, four other accused, H S Panwar, Anup Singh, Dharamveer Malhotra and Prem Prakash Batra, also surrendered in court and were granted bail on furnishing of personal and surety bond of the like amount.

The police had in 2008 filed a new chargesheet before the court against Ansal brothers for tampering with judicial records of the fire in the south Delhi cinema theatre. The brothers were held guilty of criminal negligence in the case.

The tragedy took place on June 13, 1997 during the screening of the Hindi film, "Border."

The theatre was engulfed when an overheated generator burst in the basement of the building. (ANI)