Uphaar Cinema fire tragedy: 28 years on, families demand justice

Indian Express

13-06-2025

'We have a parallel criminal justice, one for the rich and powerful and one for the poor,' remarked Neelam Krishnamoorthy, the face of the campaign seeking justice for the victims of the 1997 Uphaar Cinema fire tragedy, in a prayer meeting held Friday at Smriti Upvan.
This year marks the 28th anniversary of the fire accident that broke out on June 13, 1997, claiming 59 lives due to asphyxiation and leaving hundreds injured in the ensuing stampede.
Families of the 59 people who died meet annually to remember their loved ones. Neelam and her husband, Shekhar Krishnamoorthy, lost their children — 17-year-old Unnati and 13-year-old Ujjwal — in the blaze.
'I have kept these pictures for 28 years, the irony is many family members have died since,' Neelam said while she took down photos of the deceased pinned on a soft board post the ceremony. As president of the Association of Victims of the Uphaar Tragedy (AVUT), she and her husband have led a long struggle for justice.
'The courts are testing my patience too, but I've not given up because I have promised my children that we will get justice for them,' she added.
Commenting on the Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad, which claimed 241 lives yesterday, she said, 'A whistleblower had already raised that there were problems with Boeing, but nobody listened. Similarly, the cinema also ran for years despite violations of norms. When greed overtakes a company, it's ordinary people who are availing the services.'
Questioning a city court's decision to reduce the jail term of the accused brothers and owners of the cinema hall, Gopal and Sushil, Neelam said, 'The judge said that the accused also suffered, but how can they compare it with the pain of a mother who lost both of her children? Had it been an ordinary citizen, he would've been languishing behind bars.'
In July 2022, a Delhi court granted relief to the brothers, ordering their release from jail by asking them to serve only the sentence already undergone, in a case of tampering with evidence in the case. The court observed that a trial court had earlier passed a sentence that was 'punitive and retributive in nature' to teach them a lesson.
In 2015, the Supreme Court imposed a Rs 60-crore fine on the accused brothers in lieu of a custodial sentence. The amount was deposited with the Delhi government and was earmarked for building a second trauma centre, in memory of the victims, as an extension of AIIMS in Dwarka. However, this project has remained stalled.
'They (the Supreme Court) actually awarded the government for its failure. They were given Rs 60 crores to build a second trauma centre, but there's no sign of it so far,' she said.
Neelam has since approached the apex court enquiring about the trauma centre.
Amidst calls for justice, the Uphaar cinema in Green Park stands bearing the marks of the blazing tragedy, with a warning sign that reads 'stay away.'