HC upholds acquittal of two in Siddharth hotel fire case

The Delhi High Court has upheld the acquittal of two employees of Siddharth International Hotel here and the hotel from the charges of criminal negligence on their part in a 27 year-old case following a tragic fire incident which killed 37 people.
Dismissing the state's appeal against the trial court's acquittal order, Justice Pratibha Rani recently concurred with the Metropolitan Magistrate's findings against the prosecution and upheld the acquittal of Subhash Shiva, Security Inspector, Raj Kumar Arora, senior most Administrative Officer (Lobby Manager) and Siddharth International Hotels (India) Ltd in Vasant Vihar area.
"On considering the evidence adduced by the prosecution....,this court is of the view that the reasoning given by the trial court in arriving at the conclusion that the major fire was due to accidental combustion of LPG and not due to any criminal negligence on the part of accused persons, does not call for interference by this court in exercise of its jurisdiction to grant leave to appeal. The petition is unmerited and the same is, therefore, dismissed," the court said.

On the night of January 23, 1986, a major fire broke out in Siddharth International Hotel in Vasant Vihar killing 37 and injuring 39 people.
The court has rejected the prosecution's argument that the fire was noticed at about 1.45 am and the information was conveyed only at 2.36am and the Chief Fire Officer had reached the scene of fire at 2.38am and the fire was declared major at 3.5am.