Click to play videoNew Delhi: Ten months after being sentenced in the Uphaar fire tragedy case, which claimed 59 lives in 1997, real estate barons Sushil and Gopal Ansal will spend their first night in jail on Thursday.
Earlier on Thursday, the Ansal brothers surrendered before the Patiala House Court in compliance with the Supreme Court order cancelling their bail.
The wait for the victims' families may be over, but for the real estate honchos, the battle has just begun.
"People behind this have to go behind the bars. I want them to sit there and realise, have a sense of remorse, and know what it means to be away from family. This is something these people haven't understood in the last 11 years," Convenor, Association for the Victims of the Uphaar Tragedy (AVUT), Neelam Krishamurthy, said.
The Ansals were given a two-year sentence in November 2008 for causing death due to negligence but were out on bail.
"Police investigation has established that evidence was tampered with at their [Ansals'] behest. Secondly, there's a complaint pending trial that they had tried to intimidate victims' families," Lawyer, Uphaar victims, Sultan Singh, said.
After Supreme Court's recommendation on Wednesday, the focus now shifts to the Delhi high court, where the case is likely to be heard on a day-to-day basis. AVUT has already filed a revision petition to enhance the two-year sentence.
The conviction may have happened November 2008 but for the families of the victims, the sense of satisfaction hadn't been felt till now. Now with all the accused behind bars, families say they are finally be relieved.
"Finally the promise I made to my children has been fulfilled," Shekhar Krishamurthy, an Uphaar tragedy victim' father, said.
With everything going against the Ansals, their only hope is that the High Court takes a favourable stance towards their appeal. But after the Supreme Court heavily coming down against the Ansals on Thursday, it would be interesting to see how the High Court appreciates all the facts.
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