Web Series Based On Uphaar Fire Tragedy To Release On Friday
Sushil Ansal, who was found guilty in the 1997 Uphaar cinema fire case, asked the Delhi High Court on Thursday to halt the January 13 publication of the web series “Trial by Fire,” which is reported to be based on the occurrence.
Ansal was refused temporary relief by Justice Yashwant Varma, who also announced that a complete order would be posted on the court’s website later.
On June 13, 1997, a large fire that started at the Uphaar theatre during the Hindi film “Border” screening resulted in the deaths of 59 people.
Ansal, who claimed the web series was defamatory, had asked the court to issue an injunction preventing its broadcast, claiming that even its teaser received 1.5 million views in just four days which shows the immediate impact it has.
The 83-year-old Ansal’s lawsuit also attempted to stop the distribution and publication of a 2016 publication titled “Trial by Fire- The Tragic Tale of the Uphaar Tragedy.”
Ansal asserted that the web series makes direct personal assaults against him. The attorneys representing the web series’ creators, Netflix, and the book’s writers, Neelam and Shekhar Krishnamoorthy, who lost their two children in the fire catastrophe, vigorously rejected Ansal’s plea.
Ansal said in his petition that the publication of the series, which is based on the book written by a couple who lost their two children in the fire, will irreparably hurt his reputation and violate his right to privacy, and that he has been “punished both legally and socially.”
The Uphaar cinema fire case was ultimately determined by the Supreme Court in 2017, and the now 83-year-old Sushil Ansal and his brother Gopal Ansal (74) were ordered to pay a fine of 30 crore each.
Sushil Ansal was subsequently released by the supreme court after taking into consideration the time he had previously spent behind bars.
Later found guilty of tampering with trial-related evidence were the Ansal brothers and two other people.
Picture Courtesy: google/images are subject to copyright
