Touch and go justice

 

 

The Krishnamurthys are tired. After all, it has been a long wait. For more than 10 years, nothing has changed inside the Krishnamurthy flat in Kalkaji in South Delhi. The kids’ bedroom has remained the same ever since they left that fateful afternoon to watch a film matinee show. They never came back. The Uphaar cinema tragedy consumed both Ujjwal and Unnati. Since that day, Neelam and Shekhar Krishnamurthy’s life is a mission. After they lost their children, there is only one thing the couple has done: fight to get justice for their two children and 57 others who perished in that inferno.

On November 20, the court, after hundreds of hearings, finally held all 12 accused guilty for the tragedy. Since the quantum of sentence could not be argued, the sentences, that were to be announced on Wednesday, have been deferred. In all probability, the sentencing will be done on Friday.

The main convicts in the case are Delhi-based real estate tycoons, Gopal and Sushil Ansal, who have been booked under Section 304(A) of the Indian Penal Code. This section relates to causing death by a rash or negligent act, not amounting to culpable homicide. It is a bailable offence and carries a maximum prison term of two years. Reacting to the conviction, Neelam Krishnamurthy of the Association of Uphaar Victims (AVUT) said, “If you kill a chinkara in this country, you are sentenced for five years and for 59 people, you are sentenced for two years?" Apart from the Ansal brothers, two officials of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi and an officer from the Delhi Fire Service have also been booked under the same section. Three persons from the cinema staff, however, have been charged under Section 304(B), and may face harsher punishment. In 1997, after the tragedy, 16 people had been named in the case but over the past years, four have passed away.

AVUT is now planning to take the matter to the High Court and appeal for harsher punishment for the accused. That means another long round of legislation. But looking at the Krishnamurthys’ doggedness over the past decade, the final justice doesn’t seem too far away.