Sushil Ansal Moves Court To Stop Release Of Uphaar Cinema Fire Web Series

Mr Ansal said in his plea that he has been “punished both legally and socially” and the release of the series would cause irreparable harm to his reputation and breach his right to privacy.

New Delhi: Real estate tycoon Sushil Ansal, convicted in the 1997 Uphaar cinema fire case, on Tuesday approached the Delhi High Court for injunction against the release of web series ‘Trial by Fire’, which is said to be based on the incident and is scheduled for release on Netflix on January 13.

The lawsuit by the 83-year-old, which also seeks to restrain the circulation and publication of a book titled ‘Trial by Fire- The tragic tale of the Uphaar Tragedy’, is listed for hearing before Justice Yashwant Varma on January 11.

Ansal said in his plea that he has been “punished both legally and socially” and the release of the series, which is stated to be based on the book written by a couple who lost their two children to the fire, would cause irreparable harm to his reputation and breach his right to privacy.

A massive fire had broken out at the Uphaar cinema during the screening of the Hindi film ‘Border’ on June 13, 1997, claiming 59 lives.

In 2017, the Supreme Court had finally decided the case and directed the now 83-year-old Sushil Ansal and his brother Gopal Ansal (74) to pay a fine of ₹ 30 crore each.

The top court had then released Sushil Ansal taking into account the period he had already spent in jail.

Ansal brothers and two others were later held guilty of tampering with the evidence related to the Uphaar cinema fire trial.