Uphaar fire case: Gopal Ansal seeks parity with brother Sushil

Real estate baron Gopal Ansal today moved the Supreme Court seeking modification of its February 9 verdict asking him to surrender for serving a year in jail in the 1997 Uphaar fire tragedy in which 59 people had died.
The apex court had recently asked Gopal Ansal to undergo the remaining jail term in the case while his elder brother Sushil Ansal got relief from incarceration with a prison term already undergone by him on the ground of advanced age-related complications.
The younger brother has sought similar relief claiming that he was 69 years old and would suffer irreparable damage to his health if sent to jail. The plea is likely to come up before the court tomorrow.

The plea said "his body and health are more brittle than of his elder brother".
The petition has sought modification of the apex court order "and treat the case of the petitioner at par with the case of brother accused number one Sushil Ansal upon taking on record the medical record enclosed."
"The petitioner (Gopal Ansal) at present seeks only one relief, which his brother got without being called upon to prove anything.
"If the petitioner had known that he had to establish that he too is suffering the kind of physical ailment for which the sentence already undergone has been found sufficient punishment, he would have had no difficulty in proving that his body and health are more brittle than of his elder brother," the petition said.

The apex court, in a majority 2:1 verdict on February 9, had asked Gopal to surrender to serve the remaining jail term of one year punishment. He was in jail earlier for around four-and-a-half months.