NEW DELHI: A Delhi’s court on Monday issued show cause notice to Delhi Police for allegedly making a misleading statement before it regarding the sanction to prosecute Sushil Ansal, convicted in the 1997 Uphaar cinema fire which killed 59 people, for purported fraud while getting his passport renewed.
The court issued the notice to the investigating officer (IO) of the case on an application moved by the complainant, alleging that the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi had already accorded the requisite sanction on September 16 last year, which was duly communicated to the DCP headquarters on the same day.
The police on January 31, 2022 submitted before the court that its application seeking the sanction was pending before the LG’s office and sought more time to procure the documents.
The court had granted three weeks to the IO to procure the sanction.
The court passed the order on Monday after the complainant and Association of Victims of Uphaar Tragedy (AVUT) chairperson Neelam Krishnamoorthy informed it that conflicting details had come out from the reply of an RTI application filed by her on February 14, 2022.
Senior advocate Vikas Pahwa, appearing for the AVUT, pointed out that the charge sheet filed in the court was only under section 177 (furnishing false information), 181 (knowingly stating to a public servant, on oath as True that which is false) of IPC and 12 (obtaining a passport by suppressing information about his nationality) of Passport Act, whereas the draft charge sheet filed with the office of the LG on May 22, 2020 was under sections 420 (cheating), 177, 181, 192 (giving or fabricating false evidence), 197 (issuing of sighting false certificate) of IPC and section 12 of the Passport Act.
It is surprising to note how such important sections were deleted when the charge sheet was actually filed in the court, the counsel told the court.
Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Pankaj Sharma issued the notice to the IO on both the accounts and directed him to file the reply by March 4, the next date of hearing.
The police had earlier told the court in its charge sheet that Ansal played a fraud on authorities by concealing information about criminal cases pending against him while getting his passport renewed.
In its 8-page final report, police had claimed that Ansal misled the government authority on oath that he has not been convicted in any criminal proceedings by any court.
The case was lodged on the direction of the Delhi High Court while hearing a petition by Krishnamoorthy, alleging that Ansal concealed or gave false information to the authorities for renewal of his passport.
Ansal, however, surrendered his passport on August 14, 2017 because he knew that adverse orders against him may well be passed, the final report said.
Krishnamoorthy, who lost two children in the tragedy, has been fighting a legal battle on behalf of the victims’ families for the past 20 years.
It was alleged in the complaint that Ansal was getting his passport renewed every 5-10 years.
As per rules, the passport application for new/ re-issue/ replacement of lost/ damaged passport issued by the Ministry of External Affairs mandates the applicant to disclose whether he is involved in any criminal case or not and to produce the NOC from the concerned court in case they are involved in any criminal prosecution.
The plea claimed that Ansal was holding two passports. The court had also noted in an order that his passport number given to the court in 2018 was different from the earlier one mentioned in 2008.
A fire at the Uphaar cinema during the screening of Hindi film ‘Border’ on June 13, 1997 had claimed 59 lives.
Source: Press Trust of India