press trust of india
New Delhi, July 29: A Delhi court Saturday directed real estate barons Sushil Ansal and Gopal Ansal, convicted in the Uphaar fire tragedy case, to inform about their travel plans seven days before they go abroad.
Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Sumit Dass, however, made it clear that they will not be required to obtain the court’s permission whenever they travel abroad. Delhi Police had moved an application alleging there were apprehensions that the Ansals may flee the country. They had also pleaded that the businessmen be directed to take prior permission from the court.
The counsel for the real estate barons had opposed the plea, saying the businessmen had faced trial in the Uphaar matter for almost a decade and there was never a complaint against them of trying to escape justice.
The apex court had recently asked Gopal Ansal to undergo the remaining one-year jail term in the 20-year-old case, while his elder brother Sushil Ansal got relief from incarceration with a prison term already undergone by him in view of age-related complications. Fifty nine people had died in the Uphaar cinema during the screening of Hindi movie ‘Border’ June 13, 1997.
